Who are these very generous American donors?

When we love, we don't count. And to rebuild Notre-Dame de Paris, partially ravaged by a fire on April 15 and 16, 2019, we could not be too careful about expenses. After several years of titanic work estimated at nearly 700 million euros in total, the emblematic Paris cathedral will indeed reopen its doors to the public this weekend.

An inauguration with great fanfare bringing together no less than 50 heads of state, including the President-elect of the United States Donald Trump. A reopening that could not have been done without the nearly 850 million euros in donations collected around the world. And part of this sum came directly from across the Atlantic, with nearly 60 million euros from the United States.

Very generous patrons

“The Americans represent the majority of our donors”, explains from the outset to 20 Minutes Michel Picaud, president of the association, Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris (FNDP). Founded in 2016, this friendly American non-profit aimed to participate financially in the restoration of the cathedral. With the fire of 2019, the FNDP found itself thrust into the heart of the monument reconstruction project, receiving thousands of donations from the United States.

“To date, we have 45,000 American donors compared to 5,000 from the rest of the world,” specifies Michel Picaud. We thus find very large patrons from finance or the insurance sector such as “The Starr Foundation” or “The Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Foundation”, each with ten million euros under their belt. But also religious bodies like “The Archdiocese of New York” or wealthy individuals like Kenneth C. Griffin. Without forgetting very large multinationals like “The Walt Disney Company”, “The Bank of America” or even “The American Express”, each offering donations worth several million euros.

“A strong attachment of Americans to Notre-Dame”

“We also founded a company to receive donations, more frequently and throughout the year,” explains the president of the FNDP. Named “The 1163 Society”, in reference to the date on which the first stone of the cathedral was laid, the society manages American donations ranging from 250 euros to 10,000 euros per year.

But how can we explain such mobilization around a monument which is not even part of its own heritage? “There is a very strong attachment among Americans to Notre-Dame de Paris,” explains Michel Picaud. For religious reasons for some, cultural reasons for others, via the work of Victor Hugo for example or via the numerous screen adaptations of the novel. But also historical, notably thanks to famous photos of American troops in front of the cathedral. “Notre-Dame de Paris is a symbol of Franco-American friendship,” concludes our expert.