About the Head of Establishment Antoine Cutanda

Born to Spanish parents, Antoine Cutanda holds a Master’s degree in Spanish language and civilization with a FLE mention, and a Spanish teaching qualification. His field of expertise covers issues of education, cultural diffusion and Francophonie.

He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the traditional door of an active cooperation service carried out as a teacher at the Franco-Costa Rican High School of San-Jose (Costa Rica), followed by a contract job as a teacher of French as a foreign language at the Alliance Française of Cordoba (Argentina). Under the military dictatorship, our globetrotter worked at the Alliance Française. His function: cultural animator teacher. In a province “one and a half times the size of France”, he stayed there for six years. Time to collect memories: his trips with his director to the pampas to administer exams, the café-cigarillo… before a first return to France as a permanent teacher of the National Education. This return was used to perfect his pedagogical and linguistic knowledge through a BELC internship in 1988.

The following year, the ministry offered him a new opportunity in Morocco, in Meknes. He became secretary general and head of courses at the cultural center. He had a great time. Through the projects, the meetings. He learned Arabic and the “wonderful hospitality” of the country. In 1994, he returned to South America. He was appointed director of the Alliance française in Montevideo (Uruguay) and general delegate of the twenty-two Alliances in the country. Three years rich in meetings, from Mime Marceau to Brigitte Fossey, via Francis Cabrel and Noir Désir, Jean-Jacques Goldman and Roman Polanski.

In 1997, he crossed the Atlantic again to Spain, the country of his parents, who had left for France in 1936 under Franco. He headed to the French College of Valladolid, as director, where he co-organized a conference on bilingualism with the French department of the University of Valladolid and the diplomatic post.

After returning to France again, to the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) where he served for 3 years as Head of the Travel and Missions Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs entrusted him in 2002 with the position of Secretary General of the Cooperation and Cultural Action Service of the French Embassy in Warsaw, Poland for four years, then that of Secretary General and Director of Courses at the French Institute in Florence, Italy, where he set up professional certifications, in partnership with the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Back in France in 2009, he worked as Deputy Principal of a middle school in France, in the Yonne and Nièvre departments, then was appointed by the AEFE in Tanzania, to work as Head of Establishment at the Arthur Rimbaud school in Dar-es-Salaam, an establishment educating students of different nationalities, from grade nursery to 3rd with a second CNED.

At the end of his mission in 2014, the AEFE entrusted him with the position of director of the primary school of the Lycée franco péruvien de Lima, and the management of 600 students of more than twenty different nationalities, a position he held until July 2019.

Back from Peru, he worked in Tunisia in establishments engaged in an approval process in Tunis and Djerba. He was then assigned to Japan in Tokyo from 2022 to 2024, where he worked with involvement. This fruitful work with his teams resulted in the signing of a service agreement with the SADR ( Network Support and Development Service) to support the establishment towards approval.

Seduced by the educational project of the International Francophone School of Luang Prabang, an establishment approved for primary school classes, Antoine Cutanda decided to bring his expertise to the development of the school, while continuing the excellent work undertaken by the previous teams.