Gildas Le Lidec

Gildas Le Lidec (French: [ʒildas lə lidɛk]; 14 April 1947 – 11 October 2025) was a French diplomat.^[1]

Gildas Le Lidec
Le Lidec in 2010
Ambassador of France to Thailand
In office 2009–2012
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by	Laurent Bili [fr]
Succeeded by	Thierry Viteau
Ambassador of France to Madagascar [fr]
In office 2008
President	Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by	Alain Le Roy
Succeeded by	Jean-Marc Chataigner
Ambassador of France to Japan
In office 2006–2007
President	Jacques Chirac Nicolas Sarkozy
Preceded by	Bernard de Faubournet de Montferrand
Succeeded by	Philippe Faure [fr]
Ambassador of France to Ivory Coast [fr]
In office 2002–2005
President	Jacques Chirac
Preceded by	Renaud Vignal
Succeeded by	André Janier
Ambassador of France to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [fr]
In office 1999–2002
President	Jacques Chirac
Preceded by	Michel Rougagnou
Succeeded by	Georges Serre
Ambassador of France to Cambodia
In office 1994–1998
President	François Mitterrand Jacques Chirac
Preceded by	Philippe Coste
Succeeded by	André-Jean Libourel
Personal details
Born	(1947-04-14)14 April 1947 Bangui, Ubangi-Shari, French Equatorial Africa
Died	11 October 2025(2025-10-11) (aged 78)
Education	Sciences Po Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
Occupation	Diplomat

Life and career

Le Lidec studied at the Sciences Po and the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales.^[2] His first plenipotentiary role came in 1994 when he was appointed Ambassador to Cambodia, serving until 1998.^[3][4] He also briefly served as ambassador to the Central African Republic in 1998.^[5][6] He was Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [fr] from 1999 to 2002 and Ambassador to Ivory Coast [fr] from 2002 to 2005.^[7][8] From 2005 to 2007, he was Ambassador to Japan.^[9] He was briefly Ambassador to Madagascar [fr] in 2008, but he was expelled back to France by President Marc Ravalomanana for "obscure" reasons.^[10][11][12] Lastly, he was Ambassador to Thailand from 2009 to 2012.

Le Lidec died on 11 October 2025, at the age of 78.^[13]

Distinctions

• Officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (2001)^[14]
• Officer of the Legion of Honour (2008)^[15][16]

Book

• De Phnom Penh à Abidjan, fragments de vie d’un diplomate (2014)^{[17][18][19][20]}