The term Francophonie is quite recent in comparison to the French language. It was used for the first time in 1883 by the French geographer Onésime Reclus.
After World War I, there was an awareness of the need for understanding among peoples. The French language seemed threatened by English. Reviving the idea of this geographer, it was initially defended by French-speaking literary figures, who founded the Association of French Language Writers in 1926.
After World War II, and with the development of information, in order to counter the increasingly universal nature of English, the International Union of French-speaking Journalists and Press was established. Radios followed the same movement five years later.
In 1960, the Ministers of National Education from French-speaking countries created a conference where they came together to defend French. The following year, academics joined the movement. In 1967, it was the parliamentarians, and in 1969, the ministers of youth and sports.
In the ’70s and ’80s, other structures joined this same goal, the defense of the language of Molière. The TV channel TV5 allowed programs and works of authors expressing themselves in French to be broadcast worldwide.
The International Organization of La Francophonie was born in Niger on March 20, 1970, with 77 member states. Its goals, besides defending the French language, are: the defense of peace, democracy, education, and development cooperation.
La Francophonie held its first summit in Versailles in 1986; since then, each year in a different country, this summit gathers political decision-makers, raising French to an international level.
In 1989, the first Francophone Games in Morocco brought together sports and arts in an Olympic-like event. There are 220 million Francophones worldwide, French is the official language of the International Olympic Committee, thanks to Baron de Coubertin, and 32 states worldwide use French.
We quote Léopold Sédar Senghor: “In the ruins of colonialism, we found this wonderful tool, the French language.” The world of Francophonie corresponds to the former French colonial empire.
The Francophone Games, held this year, 2013, in Nice, are above all a cultural and sporting event dedicated to youth, who will pass on this wonderful tool, French, to their children.
This language, today the 9th most spoken on the planet, has its future assured when we know that 60% of French speakers are under thirty years old. French is thus a language of the future. Onésime Reclus, this geographer, was ahead of his time and deserves to be better known.
Thierry Jan
