The Fondation des Alliances Françaises was founded in Paris on 21 July 1883 by a group of pioneering individuals including scientist Louis Pasteur, authors Jules Verne and Ernest Renan, diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and publisher Armand Colin. It was to be a national association for the promotion of French language around the world.
Today, there are over 800 Alliance Françaises in 135 countries. Alliance Française has set the benchmark
for teaching French as a foreign language, with over 500,000 students globally. It is recognised by the French Ministry for
Education and European organisations such as ALTE (the Association of Language Testers in Europe), and is known for bringing together
French language and culture through high-quality programmes.
