Today's Date:

France/United States

Award of the insignia of « Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur » to Mary Young, Ursula Cliff, Catherine Cheremeteff Davison - Florence Gould Foundation.

Novembre 2, 2005

It is the legacy of an American woman whose life was deeply indebted to France that animates nearly every worthy project of French-American cooperation today. It is the name Florence Gould that echoes resoundingly - through the support of the Foundation that bears her name - when Lincoln Center’s concert halls ring with the French baroque, when the Pasteur Foundation undertakes construction of a state-of-the-art laboratory, when Chardin paintings grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s walls, and when The Library of America publishes Americans in Paris: A Literary Anthology. How appropriate, then, that we gather today to confer the Légion d’honneur on the three American women who have carried Florence Gould’s torch as devoted Francophiles and trustees of the Florence Gould Foundation.

Permit me to say a few words about Florence Gould and her foundation. Born of French parents in San Francisco in 1895, she left for Paris in 1906 and, as a young woman, quickly established her reputation within the city’s literary and artistic circles. Following in the footsteps of famous French women throughout history, Florence Gould was noted for hosting artistic salons at the start of the Second World War. Her life was one in which an interest and dedication to arts and letters was always paramount. At her death in 1983, Florence Gould bequeathed the bulk of her fortune to the foundation we know today – a foundation whose mission is to promote French-American amity and which has acquired its own formidable reputation.

Since its establishment, the Florence Gould Foundation has made hundreds of projects possible and has awarded a total of over $100 million dollars to support French-American cultural and artistic cooperation. Several of the most prestigious American institutions, many of which are represented here tonight, have benefited from the foundation’s support for performances, exhibitions, publications, and educational programs. The foundation has also made major commitments over the years to projects and programs initiated or supported by the French Embassy – this includes ground-breaking festivals of contemporary dance and music and several French-American funds created by the Embassy to foster cultural exchange in the fields of contemporary art, performing arts, music, cinema, and higher education.

I would like to make a special mention of the longstanding and important support that the Gould Foundation has demonstrated to the Pasteur Foundation and to the Institut Pasteur, contributing namely to the building of a safety laboratory where research on some of the world's most deadly diseases may be performed in the best conditions and to the funding of a post-doctoral fellowship program vital to both scientific and French-American exchange.

As the foundation’s Board of Trustees is composed of only six people – John and Mary Young, Walter and Ursula Cliff, and Daniel and Catherine Davison – each board member has an active role to play in offering his or her expertise on the grants that are awarded. For their longstanding commitment to the foundation, John Young, Walter Cliff, and Daniel Davison are past recipients of the Légion d’honneur. Given the increasing levels of responsibility that Mary Young, Ursula Cliff, and Daniel Davison have assumed as official members of the foundation’s Board of Trustees, the President of the Republic wished to confer the Légion d’honneur on them as well. Complementing their husbands’ devoted work, the intellectual rigor and profound knowledge of French history and culture that these three women possess enable them to make such a significant professional contribution to the field of French-American exchange. That being said, their agregated power lies also in the individual talents that each of them individually possesses.

Ursula Cliff, after receiving your Master’s Degree at Yale, you spent two years in Paris from 1955 to 1957 as a Fulbright scholar. You attended seminars at the Institut des Hautes Etudes while working on a dissertation on the religious beliefs of French scientists at the end of the 17th century. This strong grounding in French thought and first-hand experience of French culture and education undoubtedly guides your appraisal of the Florence Gould Foundation’s grant-making.

Catherine Cheremeteff Davison, you were born at Toulouse and have been closely connected to France since childhood. When Florence Gould was hosting her Parisian salons, your grandfather was being awarded the Légion d’honneur for his service to the French government as Head of the Office for Russian Refugees. You went on to complete part of your schooling in Paris, followed by higher education in the U.S. with an emphasis on European history and French literature. Especially engaged in the support of artistic and intellectual exchange, you have applied your knowledge by serving on the Boards of Trustees of such prestigious American organizations as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bryn Mawr College, Harvard University, and the Pierpont Morgan Library – all of this experience you bring to bear in service of the Florence Gould Foundation.

Mary Young, you studied French language and culture in the U.S. before traveling to Paris for your junior year abroad. You later accompanied your husband, John, while he was employed by the Paris office of his New York law firm from 1965 to 1968. Especially active in the support of patrimonial projects and parks and gardens, you encouraged the Florence Gould Foundation to help restore the park surrounding the Chateau of Versailles, which had been ravaged by a terrible windstorm in December 1999. Through your influence, the Foundation made an exceptional gift of $1 million dollars, helping to restore the uprooting of thousands of trees through an immense replanting effort.

Ms. Cliff, Ms. Davison, Ms. Young – your commitments to promoting French-American friendship have been exemplary. Your broad knowledge and depth of understanding of French culture have enabled you to carry out the Florence Gould Foundation’s mission wisely, gracefully, and commendably. For the manner in which you have honoured Florence Gould’s memory, in recognition of your long-standing commitment to French-American cultural exchange, and in light of the continued role you play at the heart of the Florence Gould Foundation, I am now most pleased to confer on you the insignia of a knight of the Légion d’honneur.

Ursula Cliff, au nom du Président de la République, et en vertu des pouvoirs qui nous sont conférés, nous vous faisons Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. [ Mme Cliff répond.]

Catherine Cheremeteff Davison, au nom du Président de la République, et en vertu des pouvoirs qui nous sont conférés, nous vous faisons Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. [ Mme Davison répond.]

Mary Young, au nom du Président de la République, et en vertu des pouvoirs qui nous sont conférés, nous vous faisons Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. [ Mme Young répond.]