Monaco’s last French ambassador dies aged 99
He was born in 1923, like Prince Rainier III, and had the chance to share his life for sixty years with his wife of the same age. Christian Orsetti died on Sunday October 2 in Paris. He was the father of three daughters and grandfather of five granddaughters and a grandson. He was the last Frenchman to be Monaco’s ambassador to Paris. A position he held until the age of 83.
Dominique Lévêque, the daughter of Christian Orsetti, remembers: “My parents entertained and went out a lot. When they were delivered in Monaco, they lodged in the Prince’s Palace. My father was close to Prince Rainier III and my mother to Princess Grace. Our family was rocked by Monegasque life. A lot of things were happening in Paris at that time…”
“He has rendered great service to Monaco”, recalls Jean-Luc Allavena, who knew Christian Orsetti very early on during the 1980s and then worked with him in 2005-2006 when he was chief of staff to Prince Albert II.
“Many Parisian and Monegasque personalities met at the Embassy, boulevard Suchet, or at his residence on avenue Georges-Mandel. He was very well known in Paris and had his entrances everywhere.”
For nearly thirty years, this former prefect demonstrated the finesse of a great diplomat to carry out essential issues in relations between Monaco and France. Christian Orsetti notably played a major role in Monaco becoming the 183rd Member State of the United Nations on 28 May 1993. With observer status since 1956, Monaco then gained sovereignty on the international scene.
“Mutual trust of the two States”
The ambassador also facilitated the negotiations of the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 2002 as well as the Convention of November 8, 2005, working with the close entourage of the President of the French Republic Jacques Chirac and his Ministers of Foreign Affairs Hubert Védrine then Dominique de Villepin . Contributing in particular to introducing in diplomatic terms the notion of “mutual trust between the two States” for appointments to certain functions.
On November 17, 2005, when he was 82 years old, Christian Orsetti attended the accession ceremony of Prince Albert II. He was for a long time the dean of the ambassadors and was honorary prefect.