- Source: French Mexicans
French Mexicans (French: Franco-Mexicains, Spanish: franco-mexicanos or Spanish: galo-mexicanos) are Mexican citizens of full or partial French ancestry. French nationals make up the second largest European immigrant group in Mexico, after Spaniards.
Migration history
French immigration to Mexico started only on a small scale before Mexico became an independent country in 1821, as foreign immigration was sometimes prohibited by Spanish authorities under the colonial regime. The first wave of French immigration to Mexico occurred in the 1830s, following the country's recognition by France, with the foundation of a French colony on the Coatzacoalcos River, in the state of Veracruz. In total, 668 settlers were brought from France to populate the colony. Most of them went back to France as the project of colonization failed, but some permanently settled in Mexico. In 1833, another colony was founded in the state of Veracruz as well, under the name of Jicaltepec. A second wave of French immigration came to Mexico at the end of the 1840s, during the California Gold Rush (at the time gold was discovered, California was still part of the Mexican territory). As a consequence, in 1849 French represented the second foreign community in Mexico after Spaniards. Between 1850 and 1914, Mexico received 11,000 French immigrants.
According to the 2010 Census, French people form the second largest European emigrant community in Mexico after Spaniards, and eleventh overall immigrant community. There are around 9,500 French nationals registered in Mexico and about 6,000 to 7,000 Frenchmen unregistered. Two thirds of them are Mexicans of French ancestry holding double nationality. Many Mexicans of French descent live in cities and states such as Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Veracruz, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Puebla, Queretaro and Mexico City.
Second Mexican Empire
Most French Mexicans descend from immigrants and soldiers that settled in Mexico during the Second Mexican Empire, headed by Maximilian I of Mexico and masterminded by Emperor Napoleon III of France and the Mexican conservatives in the 1850’s to create a Latin empire in the New World (indeed responsible for coining the term or Amérique latine, or 'Latin America'). Emperor Maximilian's consort, Carlota of Mexico, a princess of Belgium, was a granddaughter of Louis-Philippe of France.
The "Barcelonnettes"
The largest wave of immigration from France to Mexico came from the city of Barcelonnette, in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Between 1850 and 1950, 5,000 to 6,000 inhabitants of the Ubaye Valley immigrated to Mexico. Many established textile businesses between Mexico and France. While 90% stayed in Mexico, some returned to Barcelonette, and from 1880 to 1930, built grand mansions called Maisons Mexicaines and left a mark upon the city. Today, there are 60,000 descendants of the "Barcelonnettes".
French settlement in Veracruz
In 1833, 98 persons coming from Haute-Saône, Haute-Marne, Côte-d'Or and Yonne settled in a colony called Jicaltepec, in the state of Veracruz. In 1874, the community resettled on the other bank of the river, in San Rafael. From 1880 to 1900 the population of the colony grew from 800 to 1,000 inhabitants. There are now around 10,000 French Mexicans in the state of Veracruz.
Involvement in World War II
Jean René Champion, a Mexican of French ancestry, was the first Free French Forces (Forces Françaises Libres) officer to enter Paris on the day when the city was liberated from the Nazis on August 26, 1944.
French contributions to Mexican society
The French introduced cultural traits adopted by the Mexican culture and may have helped coin the term “Mariachi”, though it is not certain. The word “Mariachi” may have originated during French Napoleonic rule in the 1860s since French settler families used the music during weddings(marriage). Clark attributes this to "phonetic coincidence" (Clark, 1996). An important culinary contribution was the bolillo, which is now widely used for the torta. The French also heavily influenced Mexico's pan dulce.
Education
There are two French international schools in Mexico:
Lycée Franco-Mexicain (campuses in Mexico City and Cuernavaca)
Lycée Français de Guadalajara
Notable French-Mexicans
Luis G. Abbadie, writer
León Aillaud, governor of Veracruz
Miirrha Alhambra, French-born Mexican pianist
Pita Amor, poet, of French descent
Ramón Arnaud, Mexican Army and the last Mexican governor of Clipperton Island; of French descent
Aracely Arámbula, Mexican actress, model, and singer; of French and Basque descent
Alberto Baillères, third-richest man in Mexico
Jean-Louis Berlandier, scientist
Angelique Boyer, Mexican, French-born telenovela actress
Linda Christian, movie actress, of French descent
Manuel Clouthier, businessman and politician
Tatiana Clouthier, politician, writer, and entrepreneur
Carlos Loret de Mola, Mexican journalist of French descent
Edgar de Evia, Mexican-born American photographer
Eugenio Derbez, actor, comedian, and film director; of French descent on his great grandmother's side (Gilly)
Consuelo Duval, Mexican actress of French descent
Yolanda Vargas Dulché, writer, mother of French origin
Roberto Heinze Flamand, sprint canoeist, of French descent
Eugène Goupil, French-born Mexican philanthropist and collector
Francisco Romano Guillemin, artist, of French descent
Ralph Heinze, sprint canoeist, of French descent
Claude Heller, ambassador, of German and French descent
Saturnino Herrán, painter
Lourdes Grobet, photographer
José de la Borda, French-born Mexican philanthropist
Edward Huet, French-born Mexican, first outstanding Deaf teacher in Mexico and developed Mexican Sign Language.
Gustavo Huet, Mexican-born American athlete, of French descent
Emilio Azcárraga Jean, businessman, of French descent
Frédéric-Yves Jeannet, French-born Mexican writer and professor
Elizabeth Katz, actress and former model, of French descent
Michelito Lagravere, child bullfighter, to French father
Remigio Leroy, French-born doctor and first Guanajuato mummy
Lou Lopez Sénéchal, basketball player, French mother and Mexican father
Alberto Ruz Lhuillier, French-born Mexican archaeologist
Ángel Navarro, French-born leading Spanish settler in New Spain
Martha Debayle, Nicaraguan-born Mexican radio journalist of French descent
Montserrat Olivier, actress, television presenter, and former fashion model
Roberto Palazuelos, actor, mother of French origin
André-Pierre Gignac, footballer, naturalized Mexican citizen
Elena Poniatowska, French-born Mexican journalist and author; French and Mexican noble descent
Antonio Enríquez Savignac, politician
Laurette Séjourné, Italian-born Mexican archaeologist and ethnologist, of French descent
Eugenio Toussaint, composer, arranger, and jazz musician
Eduardo Troconis, race-car driver
Adrián Woll, 19th-century Mexican general, born and died in France
José Youshimatz, Mexican-born American, retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer; of French descent
DJ Trevi, Mexican-American, DJ, producer, composer, and actor; of French descent
See also
France–Mexico relations
Mexicans in France
White Mexicans
References
External links
Los que llegaron - Franceses from Canal Once
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Germanwings Penerbangan 9525
- Daftar tokoh dan perusahaan yang tercantum di Paradise Papers
- French Mexicans
- Second French intervention in Mexico
- Mexicans in France
- Mexicans
- France–Mexico relations
- French intervention in Mexico
- Basque Mexicans
- French people
- Afro-Mexicans
- Lebanese Mexicans