Bretons association in Old Shanghai

Although they were at most 1500 French people in Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, they were keen on getting together in regional groups. This was made clear in previous post. “French regional associations in Old Shanghai“.

Amongst the French regions, Brittany has long had an history of emigration with a strong diaspora and support network. Breton cultural movement developped in the late 19th century, resulting in the creation of the Brittany flag in 1923 by Breton nationalist architect Morvan Marechal. Named the Gwenn-ha-du, it was presented at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs. This major exhibition showcased Art Deco to the World, heavily influencing Shanghai architecture. This year is the 100th anniversary of the exhibition, with multiple events in Paris around this theme.

Bretons were active in Shanghai in the 1930s, as shown in articles in Le journal de Shanghai. Here is the short but active story of the “Association amicale des Bretons de Shanghai”. Information mostly came from articles in “Le journal de Shanghai”. It is amusing to see that the activites of the 1930s Breton association is pretty similar to the one today.

15 Apr 1935 – Foundation of the association. President was Commandant Le Floch who was a professor at Ecole Remie, Rue Remie (today Yong Kang Lu / 永康路) and Vice-President was Mr H Chatel, who was the owner of the French Pharmacie Grenard & Co, 57 Nanking Road.

21st Apr 1935 – General assembly of the association, named “Le Biniou” at the Cercle Jeanne d’Arc, 199 Route du P`ere Robert (today RuiJin 2 Lu / 瑞金二路). All bretons in Shanghai were are invited.

29th Jun 1935 – Banquet of the “Association amicale des Bretons de Shanghai” re-named “Ar Mor” in “le foyer du Marin et du Soldat”, 49 Rue Victor Emmanuel III (today Shaoxing Lu / 绍兴路). 200 people attended, lead by the Commandant Le Floch, president of the association. Main guest included the French Consul and other important people of the French and Breton community.
An article with picture (see above) was published in Britany newspaper Ouest Eclair on 13th Aug 1925. Another article with similar content but no photo was published in “La dépêche de Brest” 20th July 1935.

5th November 1935 – 1st Conference (“causerie) by Mr Schveitzer, a teacher at the French school, about the life of Breton navigator Yves de Kerguelen-Tremarec.

7th November 1935 – 2nd Banquet of the association. with about 200 people, also at the “foyer du Marin et du Soldat”. Commandant Le Floch had great success in singing “la Chanson du cidre” (1929), which later became one of the most important Breton song.

19th Jan 1936 – Children party by the association. Paulette Hameury was the daughter of the association secretary.

20th February 1936 – General assembly of the association, also at “Le foyer du Marin et du Soldat”.

16th Jun 1936 – Official opening of the “Jardin des Bretons de Shanghai”, Bretons Garden in Shanghai. This garden was located on Point Island (today Fuxing Dao / 复兴岛 in Yangpu district). Many French officials attended the ceremony. This was a great project for the Breton community that was to be developed in the following year. Unfortunately, the Japanese forces invaded Shanghai starting with Hongkou and Yangpu district in August 1937. No news of the Jardin des Bretons was found after this article.

October 1936 – Departure of Commandant le Floch leaving back to France. This is the last news I could find about the association.

A Shanghai Breton association was revived in 2008, with a meeting at Breton restaurant “La cr`èperie”. French online newspaper, Le Petit Journal, posted an article of the Bretons community in Shanghai in February 2025 (follow this link to read it).

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