The French connection — envoy traces long relationship with KSA

A former consul general of France in Jeddah has documented the history and evolution of his nation’s long relationship with the city and the region.

In his book “The Discovery of Arabia by the French: Anthology of Texts on Jeddah 1697-1939,” diplomat Louis Blin presents texts by French authors including Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Jules Verne. Their writings about the French connection with Jeddah and the region may come as a surprise to many Saudi and French people. A regular visitor to Saudi Arabia, Blin spoke to Arab News about what he learned while consul general, a posting that coincided with the 175th anniversary of the establishment of the French Consulate in Jeddah. “The Jeddah Consulate was established in 1839 and was the first French diplomatic post in the

Arabian Peninsula,” he said. “I noticed that for 175 years, many diplomats had written and published articles about their postings and then I realized that, in fact, many other writers, journalists and travelers had done the same because Jeddah had fascinated many French people.” “The French wrote a great deal about Jeddah because it is where the first French diplomatic post was established, during a period of Franco-British rivalry in the Red Sea — though neither of those two countries managed to set foot in what is now Saudi Arabia,” Blin said.

“This is a story that is little known among French or Saudi people because many believe that Saudi Arabia was an Anglo-Saxon preserve, but in both facts and in texts, the French had more relations with Jeddah than others did.”

In his book ‘The Discovery of Arabia by the French: Anthology of Texts on Jeddah 16971939,’ diplomat Louis Blin presents texts by French authors.