Etienne Dennery is an administrator, diplomat and French academic born the March 20th 1903 and dead the December 29th 1979.

After studies with the National university and an aggregation of history, Etienne Dennery becomes professor with the Private school of political sciences and with the High studies commercial. He is specialist in the political and economic problems of the Far East.

Rejoined with the general De Gaulle as of June 1940, he becomes director of the information of fighting France of 1941 with 1944. Extremely of this experiment and the support of the capacity, it starts after the war a career of diplomat (1945 - 1964) who culminates with his nomination as ambassador with the Japan. In 1964, it has to replace Julien Cain like general administrator of the National library and director of the libraries of France, posts that it occupies until in 1975.

Whereas he was not specialist, he opens with the problems with which are then confronted the Bibliothèque S. He succeeds in returning the France independent of the the United States for the census of printed and strongly contributes to the development of the public reading in the small ones and average provincial towns.

On the councils of Jean-Pierre Seguin, he imagines the creation of a large library of public reading - which would be a branch of the National library - on the vacant ground left by the destruction of the Markets. The president Pompidou however decided to build there the National museum of modern art and the National center of art and culture : the project includes/understands well the construction of a library of public reading (Public library of information) but of 15  000 m ² only, when Etienne Dennery hoped for 60  of it; 000.