Auguste François

Auguste François ( * August 20, 1857; † July 4, 1935 ) was a French diplomat and photographer.

First was from 1893 to 1895 in Paraguay, before he traveled to 1904 in 1896 as Consul southern China. He obtained permission to build the Yunnan - Vietnam railway from Haiphong to Kunming. While traveling through southern China, he took a lot of photos on that document the life at that time in China, and in 1901 the first known footage from China. In contrast to most of his contemporaries, he was not a typical representative of the prevailing colonialism, but trying to understand the language and culture of the local population and to learn why he was referred to by the Chinese as the " White Mandarin".

The Association Auguste François strives to preserve its cultural heritage.