The former president of the National Front Jean-Marie Le Pen, a figure of the French extreme right and finalist in the 2002 presidential election, died this Tuesday at the age of 96 in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine).
Jean-Marie Le Pen, figure of the French extreme right, died this Tuesday, January 7 at the age of 96 in an establishment where he had been admitted several weeks ago,** in Garches in Hauts-de -Seine.
“Jean-Marie Le Pen, surrounded by his family, was called back to God this Tuesday at 12 p.m.”his family said in a statement. However, her daughter Marine Le Pen was still traveling to Mayotte in the morning.
In more than sixty years in politics, including forty at the head of the National Front of which he is the co-founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen has marked French political life with scandals and scandals, flirting with racism and anti-Semitism.
Nostalgia for a French Algeria
Born on June 20, 1928 in La Trinité-sur-Mer, in Morbihan, Jean-Marie Le Pen came from a modest family and was raised rough by his mother, a seamstress and his father, a fisherman who died while He was only 14 years old.
After studying law in Paris, Jean-Marie Le Pen quickly distinguished himself by his oratorical talent and was elected deputy at the age of 27 under the banner of Pierre Poujade’s far-right party. During the Algerian War, he left the benches of the Assembly for six to return to the ranks of the paratroopers and participated in the Battle of Algiers.
Back in Paris, Jean-Marie Le Pen continues to plead for a French Algeria. Judging Pierre Poujade too moderate, he distances himself from his mentor. Throughout his life, he maintained a true nostalgia for French Algeria.
Racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic provocations
In 1972, Jean-Marie Le Pen founded the National Front (FN). The leader of the far-right party multiplies controversies and scandals by making racist, anti-Semitic and even homophobic remarks. “I’m not saying that the gas chambers didn’t exist, but I think it’s a detail in the history of the Second World War.”he notably declared during a television interview in 1987.
Earthquake during the 2002 presidential election
Although the FN only had a few members at its beginnings, the far-right party was gradually gaining momentum. In April 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pen created a real earthquake during the presidential elections. While the vote seemed largely favorable to the left, the leader of the FN qualified in the first round and faced Jacques Chirac. The results of the polls lead to massive demonstrations and bring together huge crowds to say “No” to Jean-Marie Le Pen. The far-right candidate was largely beaten by Jacques Chirac, with 82.21% of the vote against 17.79%.
Exclusion from the National Front
His last attempt to gain access to the Elysée during the 2007 presidential election resulted in his exit in the first round with 10.44% of the vote. Three years later, at the age of 81, the strong figure of the far right formalized his farewell to politics and made way for his daughter, Marine Le Pen, elected president of the National Front in 2011.
Reiterating anti-Semitic remarks in 2015, Jean-Marie Le Pen was excluded from the far-right party and then stripped of his position as honorary president in March 2018.
Reactions
He was a “historical figure of the extreme right” whose “role in the public life of our country for nearly seventy years (…) is now subject to the judgment of History”declared the Élysée in a press release. The President of the Republic “expresses his condolences to his family and loved ones.”
On the social network X, French Prime Minister François Bayrou greeted him “a figure of French political life beyond the controversies which were his favorite weapon and the necessary confrontations on the merits”. “We knew, by fighting him, what a fighter he was”he also added.
On the left, many elected officials have been less “tender”. The leader of the rebels Jean-Luc Mélenchon estimated that if the “fight” against Jean-Marie Le Pen was now “finished”the one “against hatred, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism (…) continues”. Communist senator Ian Brossat deplored “his nauseating ideas” “which remain”.
On the other hand, on the far right of the political spectrum, tributes are multiplying. The National Rally salutes “a child of the people (…) visionary”. “He will remain the one who, in the storms, held in his hands the little flickering flame of the French Nation and who (…) made the national movement an autonomous, powerful and free political family”greets in a press release the party he founded under the name of National Front.
“Engaged under the uniform of the French army in Indochina and Algeria, tribune of the people in the National Assembly and the European Parliament, he has always served France, defended its identity and its sovereignty”declared on X Jordan Bardella, president of his party now called National Rally. The far-right leader “thinking today with sadness of his family, his loved ones, and of course Marine (Le Pen) whose mourning must be respected”.
The president of the RN group in the National Assembly was informed of the death of her father by the media while she was making a stopover in Kenya, during the flight which brought her back from a visit to Mayotte.