| Philippe Zeller | |
| Birth Date: | 1952 10, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Lyon, France |
| Occupation: | Diplomat, ambassador of France to Hungary, Canada and & the Holy See |
| Alma Mater: | HEC Paris École nationale d'administration |
Philippe Zeller, born October 3, 1952, in Lyon, is a senior French civil servant and diplomat who was notably prefect of Ariège and French ambassador to Budapest, Jakarta, Ottawa and to the Holy See.[1]
Philippe Zeller (born Philippe, André, François Zeller1), after studying at HEC Paris, was a student at the École nationale d'administration (1976–1978) in the “Pierre Mendès France” class, at the same time as Bruno Joubert to whom he will succeed the French Embassy to the Holy See.[2]
He was head of the cooperation mission at the French Embassy in Victoria (Seychelles) from 1984 to 1986. Seconded in 1997 as prefect of Ariège, he became reserve lieutenant commander in 1999.[3]
He was roving ambassador for the Environment, then director general of administration at the Quai d'Orsay, from 2001 to 2004, before successively occupying, until 2015, various ambassadorial positions in Hungary, Indonesia, in East Timor and Canada.[4]
On July 15, 2015, he was appointed by the President of the Republic as Director General of Administration and Modernization of the Central Administration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.[5]
He was appointed by the Council of Ministers on April 6, 2016, ambassador to the Holy See. This choice was quickly confirmed by the Holy See, allowing the signing of the decree of appointment on May 10, 2016. He was received in audience by Pope Francis for the presentation of his letters of credence on June 23, 2016.[6]
Arriving at the end of his mission in June 2018, he organized the meeting on June 26, 2018, at the Vatican between Pope Francis and President Emmanuel Macron, followed by a meeting at the Villa Bonaparte between the president and the main officials of the Holy See, as well as the taking possession of the seat of honorary canon of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran by the new French president. He was received in audience with the Pope on June 28, 2018, for his leave visit. He retires on July 4, 2018.
He is a columnist for the magazine Peuples du monde, president of the France-Canada Institute and a member of the board of directors of France-Amériques. Since March 17, 2019, he has chaired the VPF memorial association (“Vos Papiers de Famille”), located at 57, rue du Cherche-Midi in Paris (6th arrondissement). By a decision of the Montreuil administrative court dated August 4, 2023, he was appointed member of the commission responsible for organizing and holding the public inquiry into the draft master plan for the Île-de-France region, the SDRIF-E, decided by the regional council on July 12, 2023.[7]