[2] The first director at its new site was the French historian, François Bédarida (1966-1971) who opened the premises in 1967 the presence of André Malraux, the then Minister of Culture, to indicate the weight France placed on this outpost in the British Isles.

The mission and the principles of the Maison Française, as defined by the University of Oxford's decree of 22 October 1946 which confirmed its foundation, ruled out the idea of it being a teaching institution in its own right.

The Maison Française was to constitute a "new kind of institution", intended to promote academic, scientific and cultural exchange under the shared responsibility of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Universities of Paris and Oxford.

Aside from the establishment of a substantial library, the activities of the cultural legation comprised conferences and debates with French literary and scientific figures such as Albert Camus, François Mauriac, André Gide, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jacques Lacan.

From its inception, the MFO organised exhibitions, concerts, theatre productions and cinema screenings, in the hope of promoting and maintaining French cultural prestige in all its aspects.

To that end, the MFO collaborates with several French research institutions and universities whose students may spend periods of study there, ranging from one month to an academic year.