THREE LOCAL STUDENTS WIN FRENCH ESSAY CONTEST AWARDS 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 9 -- Three area French students
were among 48 winners of the National Essay Contest, sponsored by the
Federation of Alliances Fran¨aises U.S.A. in Washington, D.C. 
	The winners are Gabrielle Parnes, a second-year student at the
University of Virginia from New York City who takes upper level French
classes and placed sixth in the nation for Category A (third- and
fourth-year college students); Katherine Costa Monahan of St. Anne's
Belfield School, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Monahan of
Charlottesville, who placed fifth in the nation for Category C (high
school students with more than three years of French), and Jeffrey S.
Kuttesch of Albemarle High School, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick
Kuttesch of Earlysville, who placed ninth in the nation for Category D
(high school students with fewer than three years of French). 
	The students were among 39 Charlottesville-area residents --
and 1,100 students nationwide -- who participated in the contest.  The
winners will be recognized at an awards presentation on Thursday,
April 24, at 5:30 p.m., at the University of Virginia's Maison
Fran¨aise, 1404 Jefferson Park Ave.
	Also that evening, beginning at 6:15, Roland Simon, associate
professor of French, will give a talk, in French, on Andrˇ Malraux
(1901-76), a French writer, politician, art critic and minister of
culture under the late French President Charles de Gaulle. In
conjunction with Simon's lecture, the Alliance Fran¨aise de
Charlottesville and the U.Va. French Department invite the public to a
photo exhibit on Malraux's life, hosted by the Maison Fran¨aise,
April 15-30. 
	The evening's events are sponsored by U.Va.'s Department of
French, the French Embassy's Cultural Services and the Alliance
Fran¨aise of Charlottesville. They are all free and open to the
public. The French cultural attache, Tristan Fonlladosa, is expected
to attend. 
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April 8, 1997
	For more information, call Andrˇe King, president of the
Alliance Fran¨aise de Charlottesville, at (804) 973-8268.
Television reporters should call our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.