The Rebirth of Notre Dame
Southbury Public Library
100 Poverty Road
Southbury, CT
Event sponsored by the AFNWC
Michel is the founding president of Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, the 501(c)(3) charity created in 2016 to help fund the much-needed restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Over the past nine years, Michel has stewarded the restoration and preservation of this iconic cathedral through Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris’s activities at an international level, especially with the strong commitment of supporters in the United States.
He will walk us through the rich history of Notre-Dame since the first stone was laid in 1163 in presence of the visionary Bishop of Paris, Maurice de Sully, and Pope Alexander III. The site of some of the most important events in European history, Notre-Dame progressively fell into disrepair over the centuries, and the major restoration undertaken by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in the 19th century was not sufficient enough to stop her decay.
Michel will share the dramatic circumstances of the terrible fire on April 15, 2019, that he personally experienced on the square in front of the Cathedral. He will describe the different steps taken since that night to launch one of the most significant monument restoration projects in Europe. He will give us his personal insights on the significance of Notre-Dame. He will tell us about the historical Cathedral’s reopening to believers and to visitors from around the world in December 2024, and he will highlight what still needs to be done to realize a full restoration of the Cathedral before the end of the decade. When this great undertaking is achieved, Notre-Dame’s role as part of the world heritage and as a beacon of faith for Christians will be restored for the whole world.
Michel Picaud is President of Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to accelerate the restoration of the iconic Paris cathedral, a position he has held since its incorporation in October 2016. Prior to that Michel served as COO for International Markets of the Demos Group, one of the main European learning and development companies, and as President and CEO of HR Access Solutions, a leading Human Resources software provider part of Fidelity Investments. Michel was also SVP for Orange Business Services/Equant, CEO of Alcatel Réseaux d’Entreprise. He worked for the Bosch Telecom Group in France and in Germany.
Like all Southbury Public Library programs, this event is free to attend and open to anyone regardless of town of residency. Registration is required. This program is sponsored by Alliance Française of Northwestern CT. For more information about this program, please email Rebecca at rrandall@biblio.org or call the reference desk at 203-262-0626 ext 2.
Save the Date: You will have to register directly with the library using the link below.
Free, though a contribution to The Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris is appreciated.
