François Georges-Picot

François Marie Denis Georges-Picot (Paris, 21 December 1870 – Paris, 20 June 1951), son of historian Georges Picot and grand-uncle of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, was a French diplomat who signed the Sykes-Picot Agreement during World War I, with the Englishman, Sir Mark Sykes, dividing up the Ottoman Empire into British, French and, later, Russian and Italian spheres of influence. He was responsible along with Sykes for the annexation of Arab lands and their incorporation into British and French empires.

Married in Paris on 11 May 1897 to Marie Fouquet, born at Maisons-Laffitte on 13 August 1873. They had three children:

• Jean Georges-Picot (b. Paris, 26 February 1898)
• Élisabeth Georges-Picot (b. Paris, 27 February 1901 - 1906)
• Sibylle Georges-Picot (b. Paris, 23 June 1903), married in Paris on 4 May 1926 with Georges Lewandowski, and had issue

Further reading

• Vincent Cloarec, Henry Laurens Le Moyen-Orient au 20e siècle, Paris: Armand Colin (2003) pages 218-219 ISBN 2200266146