The Lépissier family's taste for adventure, travel, knowlege and appreciation of other cultures does not stop at China.
Today there is a real openness to the world, to others and to different cultures, shared by a large part of the family.
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1941-1943 – Paul Lépissier (right) in the Levant
Paul Lépissier, born in Guǎngzhōu (广州) in China in 1884, son of Laurent and brother of Charles, grandson of Émile-Jean Lépissier, hold a law degree and diploma of Far Eastern Languages School (École des Langues orientales) in Arabic, Persian and Turkish.
Like Charles, he was also a diplomat. He spent his entire career, from the end of 1907 to 1939, mainly in the Middle East (Iran, Egypt, Ottoman Empire, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon).
At the end of 1937, Paul was appointed ambassador and extraordinary envoy of France to the Kingdom of Siam.
He was the first plenipotentiary minister or ambassador in charge of a legation or embassy to join General de Gaulle and the Free French in August 1940. Paul died in 1954 in Beirut.
(A chapter of this site is devoted to ' Paul Lépissier's career).
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1910 c – Henri Lépissier
Henri Lépissier, born in Shànghǎi (上海) in 1891, son of Laurent and brother of Charles and Paul, grandson of Émile-Jean Lépissier, graduated in law and H.E.C. (Hautes Études Commerciales) in 1911.
After his studies, he joined the international staff of the Banque de l'Indochine in the hopes of going abroad, particularly in China.
This did not happen, because the Sergeant Henri Lépissier of the 18th Dragons Regiment was killed on the 3rd day of the war on 7 August 1914 in Pfetterhausen, south-east of Belfort.
Émile-Jean Vanderlieb
Émile Vanderlieb, born in 1892 in Fraconville, son of Juliette-Lise Lépissier (sister of Laurent Lépissier), grandson of Émile-Jean Lépissier annd first cousin of Charles, Paul, Claire, Henri and Émile Lépissier, arrived in China in August 1920. He worked for the Chinese Post Office in Chengdu (Chéngdū – 成都), where he obtained his Chinese language certificate. He was then posted to Běijīng and to Fúzhōu (福州) from february 1931 to 1935.
From 21 October 1935, he worked for the Municipal Guard of the French municipality of Tiānjīn (天津), as head of Surete under the authority of Consul Charles Lépissier, before settling at Shànghǎi (上海).
He died in Shànghǎi in 1947.
1956 – Émile Lépissier
Émile Lépissier, born in Shànghǎi (上海) in China in 1900, son of Laurent, grandson of Émile-Jean and younger brother of Charles, Paul, Claire and Henri, was an agricultural engineer and graduate of the École Coloniale d'Agriculture in Tunis.
He joined Crédit Foncier in 1930. He was seconded to Crédit Foncier d'Algérie et de Tunisie in 1932, where he spent his entire career in Algeria and Tunisia, working successively in Algiers, Oran and Tunis. He was posted to Paris in 1939 as Principal Inspector, and returned to Tunis in 1951. He became an international expert with the FAO. He remained in Tunis until his retirement in 1961.
In 1930, Émile married Simonne Bonlieu with whom he had six children, three of whom were born outside France.
Émile Lépissier died in 1969.
(A simplified biography of Émile Lépissier can be found in the "Other players" tab' - (Only available to members of the Association Émile-Jean Lépissier
1960 – Henri Lépissier, with his cheetah "Nana" in Fort-Lamy
1975 – Henri Lépissier in Lagos, Nigeria
Henri Lépissier, born in Harbin (Hā'ĕrbīn – 哈尔滨) in China in 1921, eldest son of Charles, grandson of Laurent, is a veterinarian doctor, graduate of École de Maisons-Alfort. He is also a graduate of the "Institut de l'élevage et de médecine vétérinaire des pays tropicaux", with a specialization in tropical virology and pathology supplemented by a training in these disciplines at the Institut Pasteur and training in tropical fauna at the Natural History Museum in Paris.
In 1947, he married Monique Mourier, daughter of General (aviation) Paul Mourier and granddaughter of General (cavalry) François, known as William, Soulé and General (infantry) Joseph Mourier.
Henri spent his entire career in sub-Saharian Africa, as a veterinarian in tropical medecine.
From 1948 to 1961, he was at Fort-Lamy [N'Djamena] in the "Service de l'élevage du Tchad" of which he became director. His son Bertrand was born in Fort-Lamy in 1948.
Henri and Monique divorced and Henri married Jacqueline Delaunay (1926-2016).
From 1961 to 1969, Henri was seconded to the OUA's (Organisation de l'Unité Africaine) Scientific technical and Research Commission (CSTR), and was in charge of the "Joint campaign against Riderpest in West and Central Africa". In this capacity, he was based successively in Nigeria (1961-1964), in Upper-Volta [Burkina Faso] (1965-1966) and Senegal (1967-1969).
From 1969 to 1971, Henri was seconded to the U.S. Department of State (USAID) as Regional Advisor for Rural Development in West Africa, based in Dakar.
From 1972 to 1976, he became Technical Advisor for Rural Development and member of ministerial cabinets to the Senegalese government.
He left Africa in 1976, after 30 years. In France, he settled in Rambouillet where he became a municipal councillor and then deputy mayor, for two terms, under Gérard Larcher.
Henri died in 2010 in Rambouillet.
1936 c. – Geneviève Lépissier, (Maurice Depommier's wife), in China
Geneviève Lépissier, born in Harbin (Hā'ĕrbīn – 哈尔滨) in China in 1923, daughter of Charles and granddaughter of Laurent, will marry Maurice Depommier (1922-1994), an administrator for Overseas France.
Geneviève is a graduate of Far Eastern Languages School (École des langues orientales) in Russian. She then studied nursing at the École des Surintendantes d'Usine. Then she joined the Army service which chartered three liners to repatriate families from Indochina. Geneviève made three trips to the Far East betwwen 1945 and 1947. Upon her return, she joined the social service of the Ministry of Colonies where she met Maurice Depommier.
Maurice entered the Colonial School (class of 1946). He was appointed a student-administrator on 1 August 1948. He began his career in Chad from 1948 to 1950 where his son Arnaud was born in 1949. In Chad, Geneviève was reunited with her brother and sister-in-law Henri and Monique Lépissier.
Maurice was then appointed as Deputy Head of Subdivision of Grande Comore (Comoros) from 1951 to 1953. In 1952, their daughter Anne was born in Moroni. From 1954 to 1957, Maurice was posted in French Polynesia as Administrator of the Tahiti constituency and its dependencies where their son Denis was born in 1955.
After a brief return to Africa, where Maurice was an executive officer in the office of the Governor of Guinea, he returned to Comoros as Director of the Office of the President of the Governing Council from 1958 to 1960, before being appointed Comorian delegate in Paris in 1961.
From 1961 to 1963, Maurice was Director of the Cabinet of the Governor of the French Coast of Somalia (which became the French Territory of the Afars and Issas – TFAI –, before becoming the Republic of Djibouti). This will be Maurice's last post outside the metropolitan France.
In 1969, as the French colonies no longer existed, Maurice was then head of the Office of general studies at the executive management of local authorities of the Ministry of Interior.
In 1970, he became Regional Delegate of the "Caisse des dépôts et consignations" for Auvergne-Limousin until 1975 before becoming Regional Delegate for Rhône-Alpes region from 1976 to 1982. From 1983 to 1986, he returned to the local development department of the "Caisse des dépôts et consignations" in Paris before retiring.
Geneviève died on December 10, 2023.
Jacqueline Lépissier (Philippe Scipion's wife)
Jacqueline Lépissier, born in France in 1925, daughter of Charles and granddaughter of Laurent, married Philippe Scipion (1917-1979), an administrator of Overseas France.
From 1948 to 1950, before his marriage, Philippe was posted to Chad (at the same time as Henri Lépissier and Maurice Depommier). In 1951/1952, Philippe was posted in Mamoudzou on the island of Anjouan and then in 1952/1953 on the island of Mayotte in the Comoros. One of their two daughters, Martine, was born in Mamoudzou in 1952.
From 1954 to 1957, Philippe worked in the personnel division of the Ministry of Colonies in Paris. From 1958 to 1960, Philippe was in French Polynesia : two years in Raiatea and one year in Papeete in the Territory's Finance Department.
He returned for a year to the Ministry of Colonies in Paris, before joining the Elysée Palace as an executive in the Protocol Department from 1961 until his retirement in 1976.
Jacqueline Scipion died on 1 October 2017 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Jacques Lépissier
Jacques Lépissier, born in Algiers in 1931, son of Émile, grandson of Laurent, spent his entire career in sub-Saharan Afica and Madagascar.
From 1954 to 1966, Jacques worked for the "Compagnie Pastorale Africaine (CPA)" in different 'ranches' in Cameroon and from 1967 to 1969, he was in a 'ranch' in Mauritania for "COVIMA".
In 1970, he joinned Food and Agricultural Organisation, as a livestock expert and worked in Chad (1970-1976), the Ivory Coast (1976-1981), Rwanda (1981-1986), then Madagascar (1986-1992) where Jacques ended his career as Resident Representative of the F.A.O. for the South-West Indian Ocean from 1987.
His four children were born in Cameroon.
Jacques died in 2009.
(A simplified biography of Jacques can be found in the 'Other players' tab)
Odile Lépissier (Guy Pantoustier's wife)
Odile Lépissier (born in 1944), daughter of Émile, granddaughter of Laurent, married Guy Pantoustier.
The latter, who holds a doctorate in marine biology and oceanography from the University of Montpellier, taught for 14 years in the Universities of Tunis (Tunisia) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast), and at the University of science in Tétouan (Maroc) before working at the INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique) in Rabat (Morocco) where he collaborated, among other things, in the development of the oyster park of King Hassan II.
Guy returned to France in 1985 and after obtaining a CAPES in Mathematics, he taught in Orléans, at the Lycée Pothiers and then at the Lycée Benjamin Franklin where he ended his career.
During his stays in Tunisia and Morocco, Odile worked in the services of the French Embassy, then in the rectorate of the University of Abidjan.
Back in France, Odile returned to her first employer, the Ministry of Finance.
Their two children, Emmanuel and Mélanie are born in Tunis.
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Bertrand Lépissier
Bertrand Lépissier (born in 1948 in Fort-Lamy, Chad), eldest son of Henri, grandson of Charles, great-grandson of Laurent, spent 33 years of his life outside France career, including 28 years working in 10 countries : Djibouti (1974-1975), Saudi Arabia (1976-1978), Sri Lanka (1978-1982), Papua New-Guinea (1983), North Yemen (1984), Kenya (1985-1987),Taiwan (1988-1990), United Arab Emirates (1991-1993), Spain (1994-1995), Gibraltar (1996-2001) for a French bank (Banque de l'Indochine which became Banque Indosuez then Crédit Agricole Indosuez, then Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank).
He married Monique Pillard in January 1983 in Port-Moresby, Papua New-Guinea. Their daughter Alice was born in France in 1987. Their second daugther, Pauline, was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1989.
Bertrand returned to France and joined Bred Banque Privée as General Secretary in 2002. After a short assigment in a subsidiary, BIC-BRED, specialized in international trading (soft commodities) which was experiencing operational difficulties, Bertrand joined BRED's management committee of the BGC (Banque des Grandes Clientéles) comprising 10 divisions, in October 2009 as permanent controller. He will remain there until his retirement in October 2013.
(Bertrand's simplified biography can be found in 'Other players' tab) - (Only available to some members of the Association Émile-Jean Lépissier)
Denis Depommier
Denis Depommier (born in 1955 in Papeete, French Polynesia), son of Geneviève Lépissier and Maurice Depommier, grandson of Charles Lépissier and great-grandson of de Laurent is a Civil Forest Engineer (ENGREF) and holds a Phd in biology and tropical ecology.
He has spent almost all his career outside France for CIRAD for the last 30 years : in Cameroon in 1983, in Nairobi, Kenya from 1984 to 1988 (at the same time as his first cousin Bertrand Lépissier), in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso from 1988 to 1998, in Pondichéry, India, from 1998 to 2002, in Montpellier, France, from 2003 to 2004, again in Nairobi, Kenya from 2004 to 2010, then in Dakar, Senegal, from 2010 until the summer of 2016. He then returned to France for one year.
In september 2017, he went back abroad to Yaoundé, Cameroon where he was appointed Regional Director of CIRAD and representative of INRA, of IAVFF/Agreenium and of MUSE/University Montpellier for central Africa (Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea , Central Africa republic and Sao Tomé & Principe). He should remain there until the summer of 2023.
Olivier Delafoy
Olivier Delafoy (born in 1963), son of Mériem Lépissier and Alain Delafoy, grandson of Émile Lépissier, great-grandson of Laurent, has been working abroad since the begining of his career.
He left for Africa as a national service volunteer (VSNE) with the Reuters Agency, and married Marie-Aude Priez, publisher, in Ivory Coast. His three children, Maxime (born in 1994), Tancrède (born in 1996) and Yéléna (born in 1999) were born in Abidjan.
He is currently pursuing his career in Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as director in the press group "Corneille and Sima" owned by his wife Marie-Aude. The headlines of this press group are "Hamaji" and "Mining & Business"
His family continues the tradition of travelling as his two daughters are studiyng in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Hamaji Magazine
- Mining and Business Magazine
Fabienne Delafoy (Alastair Bruce's wife)
Fabienne Delafoy (born in 1965), daughter of Mériem Lépissier and Alain Delafoy, granddaughter of Émile Lépissier, great-granddaughter of Laurent, married Alastair Bruce, a New-Zealander, in 1994.
Alastair spent much of his career abroad for a New-Zealand dairy cooperative, 'Dairy Board' now called 'Fonterra' : Londres (1994-1995), Wellington in New-Zealand (1995-2003), Shanghai (2003-2007), Singapour (2007-2013) and Dubaï (United Arab Emirates) from late 2013 to the summer 2019.
Their four children, Adèle (b. 1995), Émile (b. 1997), Harold (b. 1999) and Edgar (b. 2001) were born in Wellington.
From the summer of 2019 to end of 2022, Alastair has been in Singapore (and fabienne joined him in March 2020) working for Olam International, a Singaporean food trading and brokerage company established in 1989, which is active in Africa and Asia (Alastar was responsible for the Vietnam business).
In January 2023, Fabienne and Alastair moved to Takaka, New Zealand. Alastair worked for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand's economic development and trade promotion agency, as a Customer Manager.
Adèle spent 10 months in Běijīng, in 2015/2016, where she continued her Chinese studies at the 'Beijing Foreign University' or 'Běijīng Wàiguóyǔ Dàxué' (北京外国语大学). Adèle now works for the Bolloré Group.
The three boys are studying abroad for higher education: Émile in Christchurch (New Zealand), Harold in Dunedin (New Zealand) and Edgar in Groningen (Netherlands).
Laurent Lépissier
Laurent Lépissier (born in 1964 in N'Gaoundéré, Cameroon), son of Jacques, grandson of Émile, great-grandson of Laurent, is a computer engineer and created his own company Freesoft Investment International in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland.
Laurent has a wife of Malagasy origin, Brigitte Harisoa Ratovondrahona, and his family lives in Swaziland.
Laurent and Brigitte have one daughter, Maeva, born in 1997 in Tananarive (Madagascar).
(see tab 'Other players - Jacques Lépissier').
Thierry Ballard
Thierry Ballard (born in 1964), son of Marie-Jehanne Lépissier (born in 1934 in Tunis) and Michel Ballard, grandson of Émile Lépissier, great-grandson of Laurent, spent 8 years of his career in Asia : 3 years in Tokyo (1998-2001), 4 years in Singapore (2001-2005) and one year in Shànghǎi in 2006 for the French group Bolloré (in the Logistic Division).
Thierry then became managing director of the rail division of Bolloré Transport Logistics and worked a lot in Africa.
In October 2018, Thierry joins the largest Algerian private group, the food-processing group Cervital (also diversified in real estate, construction and distribution) as Country Financial Officer (CFO), based in Algiers.
Of his 4 children, two were born abroad : Tristan in Tokyo in 2000 and Yann in Singapore in 2002.
Michel Ballard, father of Thierry, was born in 1933 in Saigon and lived in Shànghǎi where his father George Ballard worked in the international staff of Banque de l'Indochine from October 1935 to early 1938.
Stéphane Lépissier
Stéphane Lépissier (born in 1965 in Douala, Cameroon), son of Jacques, grandson of Émile, great-grandson of Laurent. In 1988, he married Josiane Norosoa Rabarivelo, a young woman of Malagasy origin. The family lived for many years in Mbabana, Swaziland.
Stéphane and Josiane have three children, all born in Swaziland : Anthony, Kevin and Christopher.
Stéphane set up a catering company that owned up to four restaurants in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, before he ran into difficulties. In 2015, Stéphane left Swaziland to go to Kinshasa, Zaïre, where he was in charge of catering for Servair (Groupe Air France/KLM).
Stéphane and Josiane divorced in June 2017. Josiane, Antony and Christopher are back in France, in Bordeaux.
Kevin is currently studying civil engineering at the University of Oklahoma, in the USA.
(See tab 'Other players- Jacques Lépissier').
Alice Lépissier
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Pauline Lépissier
Anaïs Depommier
Alice Lépissier (born in 1987 in France), daughter of Bertrand, granddaughter of Henri, great-granddaughter of Charles and great-great-granddaughter of Laurent, spent most of her chilhood outside France (Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Spain).
She completed most of her higher education in London (University College London, Sciences-Po Paris et London School of Economics). To date, she has only lived in France for five years.
In 2012, she joined the 'Center for Global Development' (CGD), an American think-tank specialized in economic research on poverty and inequality reduction, where she was a Research Associate in London.
Having completed the 'SkyShares' project on global warming for which she had been recruited, Alice left CGD in 2015 to join the University of California (Santa Barbara - Bren School of Environmental Science & Management) in 2016. She obtained a master's degree in statistics and, in 2021, a doctorate in environmental sciences.
On 11 March 2021, Alice married Max Wojcik, an American citizen, in Santa Barbara, California.
At the end of 2021, she will join the William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance at the Watson Institute of Brown University (Ivy League) in Providence, the capital of Rhode Island in the United States, to do a post-doctorate as a researcher in the Climate Solutions Lab.
https://alicelepissier.com
Pauline Lépissier (born in 1989 in Táibĕi – 台北 – Taiwan), daughter of Bertrand, granddaughter of Henri, great-granddaughter of Charles and great-great-granddaughter of Laurent spent, like her sister, most of her childhood outside of France (Taiwan, United Arab Emirates and Spain).
She also did all her postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom (University of Oxford – Hertford College then BPP Law School in Londres). To date, she has only lived in France for six years.
In september 2014, she joined the law firm Thomas Eggar, in London.
In September 2016, Pauline joined London-based Devonshire Solicitors (Devonshires solicitors) as a 'solicitor', where she is a 'partner' in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution department.
Anaïs Depommier (born 1988 in France), daughter of Arnaud, granddaughter of Geneviève Depommier (born Lépissier), great-granddaughter of Charles and great-great-granddaughter of Laurent Lépissier, grew up in Malissard (Drôme) until her A-levels.
She moved to Lyon in 2005, where she studied drawing for 4 years at the Ecole Emile Cohl, and began her professional career there as a comic strip author, illustrator and graphic designer.
She then spent 4 years in Paris, where she produced her first graphic novel 'Sartre, une existence, des libertés', scripted by Mathilde Ramadier, published by Dargaud in 2015.
That same year, she moved to Rome, Italy, fulfilling her dream of living in the country she fell in love with as a child, where she continues to work mainly for French clients (publishers, magazines, etc.).
Since 2019, she has been living in Portici, near Naples with her partner Luciano Formicola.
Instagram: @pommegram.
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