Jean-Pierre Berçot (born 3 November 1947, Hanoi) is a French ambassador and politician. He previously served as ambassador to Chad (2003-2006) and Andorra (2010-2012), as well as prefect of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (2008-2010).[1][2][3] During his career, he visited Madagascar, Comoros, Lebanon, Mali, Burundi, and Colombia as Deputy Head of Mission.[4]
After attending École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr[4] in Cambodia,[1] Berçot served in the French Navy, earning the rank of captain in 1980.[5] In 2000, he was made Commander of the Reserve and in 2002 was made Honorary Colonel of the Navy.[1]
Berçot was First Secretary to Madagascar in 1987 and subsequently returned to the country and to Comoros over the next two years on diplomatic missions.[1][5] Between 1994 and 1996, he was Deputy Prefect of Nogent-le-Rotrou in Eure-et-Loir.[1] He worked as First Embassy Counselor in Burundi in 1996 before traveling to New York City, where he worked at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations until 2001, when he became Deputy High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5][4]
He held this role in Mostar in 2003, when he was named Ambassador of France to Chad.[1][5] On 1 August 2004, he said that France would deploy 200 soldiers to help secure Chad's eastern border with Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region.[6] He left Chad in 2008 to become Prefect of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, a role he held for two years.[1][2] He then spent 2010-2012 as Ambassador of France to Andorra.[1][3]
Berçot is an Officer in the Legion of Honour.[1]