The Association of the Friends of the French Institute of Florence




The French Institute of Florence is the first cultural institute in the world. It is currently based in the 15th Century Palazzo Lenzi in Piazza Ognissanti and was created in 1907 by J. Luchaire, a young professor from the University of Grenoble in order to promote study, research and Franco-Italian exchanges. As its founder worked alongside the League of Nations, the testing ground for what would one day be UNESCO, an awareness of the language, literature, culture and civilization of the "Other" as a means towards democracy and peace was also of central importance.

When the IFF was threatened with closure in 2000, members of the civil society sought to save and safeguard the goals and values it represented by constituting the Associazione degli Amici dell'Istituto Francese (AAIFF), modelled on the Société des Amis de l'Institut Français which sustained the existence of the IFF at the beginning of the last century.

The IFF represents a real and symbolic relevance for the association, and embodies the presence of France, its language, literature, culture and civilization in Florence, Tuscany and Italy.

This presence is also exemplified by the important newspaper library and multimedia library and by the seventy thousand volumes of the richest library of French Studies in Italy, whose accessibility to the public will continue through the work of the AAIFF and the French Authorities, expanding to an ever wider public by way of the computerisation which the Association promotes.

Thanks to the support of its associates and the Ente Cassa di Risparmio of Florence, the Association is occupied with the diffusion of the French language and culture on all levels, through the organisation of events and conferences, as well as through its publications. Amongst other things, in accordance with the IFF, they annually organise an international festival of Francophone theatre "Théâtralisons ensemble" while also supporting “Une année… un écrivain” a French-linguistic project for the promotion of the French language in secondary schools and to encourage the meeting of new generations that use this language as a means for communication. In addition, the Association maintains its commitment towards the development of the heritage of books, media and archives held by the IFF, supporting its usability, accessibility and the continued updating of the library’s Catalogue of the IFF.

It is promoting and supporting the establishment of the online Catalogue of the "Grande Bibliothèque" of French Studies, whose aim is to reunite the resources of the IFF with those of the libraries of Tuscany.



Text by Eoghan O'Shaughnessy