François Georges-Picot

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
François Georges-Picot
François Georges-Picot, in L'Illustration, n° 3908, p. 82, 26 January 1918
Born
François Marie Denis Georges-Picot

(1870-12-21)21 December 1870
Died20 June 1951(1951-06-20) (aged 80)
Paris, France
Occupation(s)Lawyer, Diplomat
Known forSykes–Picot Agreement
SpouseMarie Fouquet
Children3
Parent
RelativesValéry Giscard d'Estaing (great-nephew)
Olga Georges-Picot (great-niece)

François Marie Denis Georges-Picot (21 December 1870 – 20 June 1951) was a French

Sir Mark Sykes
between November 1915 and March 1916 before its signing on May 16, 1916.

It was a secret deal which proposed that – when the

partitioning of the Ottoman Empire began after a then theoretical victory of the Triple EntenteBritain and France, and later Russia and Italy
, would divide up the Arab territories between them.

Family

Georges-Picot was the son of historian Georges Picot and grand-uncle of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. He married Marie Fouquet in Paris on 11 May 1897. They had three children: Jean Georges-Picot (b. Paris, 26 February 1898), Élisabeth Georges-Picot (1901–1906) and Sibylle Georges-Picot. His great-niece Olga Georges-Picot appeared in the film The Day of the Jackal.[1]

Biography

Drawing of Georges-Picot

Picot obtained a degree in Law and became a lawyer at the

First World War
.

At the outbreak of war, he went to

Sykes-Picot Agreement,[3] desiring an "integral Syria" from Alexandretta in present-day Turkey to Sinai, and from Mosul to the Mediterranean coast
.

He was appointed High Commissioner in Palestine and Syria between 1917 and 1919, Minister Plenipotentiary in 1919, High Commissioner of the Republic in Bulgaria in 1920, and ambassador to Argentina.

Legacy

The majority of Arab countries regard Picot in a strongly negative light for his role in leading the 1916 execution of Arab intellectuals and his key role with

Sykes-Picot Agreement.[4]

King Faisal I regarded Georges-Picot as a war criminal, for Georges-Picot wrote up papers that exposed Arab nationalists. This resulted in the named people being put to death.[5] Additionally, he indirectly abetted the Ottomans during the Armenian genocide when he withdrew the French Army, leaving the Armenians defenceless.[6]

References

Further reading

External links

Media related to François Georges-Picot at Wikimedia Commons