Mireille Musso

Mireille Musso is a French diplomat, politician and writer. She is best known for having been French ambassador to Georgia from 1997 under French President Jacques Chirac. She therefore has a strong attachment to Georgia, which she considers to be one of the best experiences of her career.
==Studies==
She trained as a literature teacher and was awarded a certificate. She then graduated from the Institut d'études politiques and the Ecole nationale des langues orientales et vivantes (Greek, Modern, Russian). She also studied at the University of Paris-II, where she graduated in specialized defense studies.
==Professional career==
* From July 1968 to June 1969, she held the position of Director General of Cultural, Scientific and Technical Relations at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
* Then, on November 5, 1968, she was admitted to the competitive examination for the post of Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs. At the time, Mireille Musso was one of only 16 women ambassadors out of 173 embassy posts, representing only 9.2% of all posts.
* In 1997, she succeeded Bernard Fassier (1993-1997) as French Ambassador to Georgia until 2003.
* On December 5, 2006, in a decree dated December 4, 2006, Mireille Musso succeeded Stéphane Chmelewsky as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to the Republic of Belarus. This succession takes place under the government of French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.
==Geopolitical context==
During the USSR, France had no diplomatic relations with Georgia due to the geopolitical situation at the time. It was not until August 21, 1992, that diplomatic relations between the two countries were re-established. In 1992, the first French ambassador to Georgia (Tbilisi), His Excellency Pierre Morel, was appointed. The ambassador then spent a year in Moscow. In 1993, the embassy, consulate and cultural service moved to Tbillissi. The first premises were located in residential houses adjoining the residence on rue Goguébashvili. It was not until June 2011 that the embassy moved to the Krtsanissi residential estate.
Ms Musso's tenure as ambassador has been a very intense and turbulent period for Georgia. In particular, the country experienced numerous terrorist attacks against President Eduard Shevardnadze.
At the same time, France has been consolidating its political, diplomatic and cultural ties with Georgia. Through the Group of Friends of Georgia, of which France was president at the time, France and other member countries sought to improve Georgia's diplomatic relations and restore its territorial integrity.
On a personal level, France and Georgia have forged closer cultural and scientific ties. This has involved stepping up research in the fields of paleontology and prehistoric history, and developing a large number of museums (Mestia Museum).
==Events in her political life==
===The inauguration of the statue of Alexandre Dumas=== 
On October 11, 2003, Mireille Musso, together with Mr. Jemal Inaishvili, organized the inauguration of the first statue of Alexandre Dumas in the port of Poti (Georgia). The inauguration was also attended by the country's political representatives: President Shevardnadze and several members of his government, the mayor of Poti and the port director.
===The commemoration of the 197th anniversary of the Great Army’s crossing of the Berezina===
In 2009, Ms Musso is France's ambassador to the Republic of Belarus. On Sunday, November 29, 2009, she visited the Stoudienka cemetery in Belarus to commemorate the 197th anniversary of the Great Army's crossing of the Berezina in 1812. At her side are important political figures such as General Bresse, Director of the Musée de l'Armée at the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris; Mr. Victor-André Masséna, President of the Fondation Napoléon; Mr. Thierry Lentz, Director of the Fondation Napoléon; and 3 of the Foundation's imminent members, Mr. Suchet Duc d'Albufera, Mr. Fouret and Mr. Garnier, the great historian of the Napoleonic period. But she is also surrounded by Belarusian and French uniformists: Mr. Goncharov, Mr. Chpilev, Philippe Morski and François Lavallou. On this day of commemoration, she delivers a speech in tribute to the Russian and French soldiers who fell at the Battle of the Berezina. The speech was full of piety for the past and hope for future relations between France and Belarus. But above all, it is a Europeanist speech in which she calls for mutual support between European countries to face current and future threats.
==Books==
* Géorgie, un autre regard, Delphine Eymoon, June 2012, Avant-Propos : Mireille Musso
* Caulaincourt ambassadeur en Russie et la réalité de l’alliance franco-russe, Mireille Musso Napoleonica. La Revue, n° 18, december 2013
==Honours==
* Officer of the Legion of Honor
Category:French people
Category:Diplomats
Category:Politicians
Category:Writers