Speakers

Florian Cardinaux

French Consulate in San Francisco

Bio:

Originally from Blois in the Loire Valley, near the Château de Chambord, Florian Cardinaux has just arrived in the City by the Bay to take up his role as Consul General of France in San Francisco.

Florian Cardinaux was previously one of the advisors to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, responsible for Asia, the Pacific, and consular affairs (2022-2024). Prior to that, he served as Head of Operations at the Crisis and Support Center at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (2020-2022), a role that led him to manage numerous international crises involving French nationals (notably Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Sahel, Sudan, and Ethiopia). In recent months, following Catherine Colonna’s departure, he resumed this activity to contribute to the management of the crisis in Gaza and its regional consequences.

It is his third posting abroad after Doha, where he served as Deputy Head of Mission of the French Embassy in Qatar (2018-2020), and Delhi, where he was a political advisor at the French Embassy in India, responsible for the franco-indian strategic partnership (2015-2018). He began his career at the Quai d’Orsay on the Near East, handling relations with Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Syrian crisis (2012-2015).

Aged 39, Florian Cardinaux is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris. He spent a year studying at Princeton University as part of his education. He is also an alumnus of the École nationale d’administration, Jean-Jacques Rousseau class (2012).
Florian Cardinaux is married and the father of a young boy who attends the Lycée Français in San Francisco. He is passionate about rowing, mountain sports, and scuba diving.