François Mitterrand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mitterrand redirects here. For other uses, see Mitterrand (disambiguation). François Mitterrand Reagan Mitterrand 1984 (cropped 2).jpg 21st President of France In office 21 May 1981 – 17 May 1995 Prime Minister See list[show] Preceded by Valéry Giscard dEstaing Succeeded by Jacques Chirac Co-Prince of Andorra In office 21 May 1981 – 17 May 1995 Prime Minister See list[show] Representative Jean-Yves Caullet Preceded by Valéry Giscard dEstaing Succeeded by Jacques Chirac First Secretary of the Socialist Party In office 16 June 1971 – 24 January 1981 Preceded by Alain Savary Succeeded by Lionel Jospin Minister of Justice In office 31 January 1956 – 12 June 1957 President Rene Coty Prime Minister Guy Mollet Preceded by Robert Schuman Succeeded by Edouard Corniglion-Molinier Minister of the Interior In office 19 June 1954 – 23 February 1955 President Rene Coty Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France Preceded by Léon Martinaud-Deplat Succeeded by Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury Minister-Delegate to the Council of Europe In office 28 June 1953 – 4 September 1953 President Vincent Auriol Prime Minister Joseph Laniel Preceded by Pierre Pflimlin (1952) Succeeded by Edgar Faure (1958) Minister of State In office 20 January 1952 – 28 February 1952 President Vincent Auriol Prime Minister Edgar Faure Minister of Overseas France In office 12 July 1950 – 15 August 1951 President Vincent Auriol Prime Minister René Pleven Henri Queuille Preceded by Paul Coste-Floret Succeeded by Louis Jacquinot Minister of Veterans and War Victims In office 24 November 1947 – 19 July 1948 President Vincent Auriol Prime Minister Robert Schuman Preceded by Daniel Mayer Succeeded by André Maroselli In office 22 January 1947 – 21 October 1947 President Vincent Auriol Prime Minister Robert Schuman Preceded by Max Lejeune Succeeded by Daniel Mayer Personal details Born François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand 26 October 1916 Jarnac, France Died 8 January 1996 (aged 79) Paris, France Political party UDSR (1945–1964) CIR (1964–1971) Socialist Party (1971–1996) Spouse(s) Danielle Gouze (1944–1996) Children Pascal Jean-Christophe Gilbert Mazarine Alma mater University of Paris Free School of Political Studies Religion Agnosticism[1][2][3] Signature Website François Mitterrand Institute François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (French: [fʁɑ̃swa mɔʁis mitɛˈʁɑ̃] ( listen)) (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was the 21st President of France and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the first figure from the left elected President under the Fifth Republic. Reflecting family influences, Mitterrand started political life on the Catholic nationalist right. He served under the Vichy Regime in its earlier years. Subsequently, however, he joined the Resistance, moved to the left, and held ministerial office repeatedly under the Fourth Republic. He opposed de Gaulles establishment of the Fifth Republic. Although at times a politically isolated figure, Mitterrand outmanoeuvred rivals to become the lefts standard bearer in every presidential election from 1965 to 1988, except 1969. Elected President in the May 1981 presidential election, he was re-elected in 1988 and held office until 1995. Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, a controversial move at the time. In the event, the Communists were boxed in as junior partners and, rather than taking advantage, saw their support erode. They left the cabinet in 1984. Early in his first term, Mitterrand followed a radical economic program, including nationalization of key firms, but after two years, with the economy in crisis, he reversed course. His foreign and defense policies built on those of his Gaullist predecessors. His partnership with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl advanced European integration via the Maastricht Treaty, but he accepted German reunification only reluctantly. During his time in office he was a strong promoter of culture and implemented a range of costly Grands Projets. He was twice forced by the loss of a parliamentary majority into cohabitation governments with conservative cabinets led, respectively, by Jacques Chirac (1986–88), and Édouard Balladur (1993–95). Less than eight months after leaving office, Mitterrand died from the prostate cancer he had successfully concealed for most of his presidency. Beyond making the French left electable, Mitterrand presided over the rise of the Socialist Party to dominance of the left, and the decline of the once-mighty Communist Party (as a share of the popular vote in the first presidential round, the Communists shrank from a peak of 21.27% in 1969 to 8.66% in 1995, at the end of Mitterrands second term, and to 1.93% in the 2007 election). Family[edit] Mitterrand was born in Jarnac, Charente, and baptized François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand, the son of Joseph Mitterrand and Yvonne Lorrain. His family was devoutly Roman Catholic[4] and conservative. His father worked as an engineer for la Compagnie Paris Orléans. He had three brothers, Robert, Jacques and Philippe, and four sisters, Antoinette, Marie-Josèphe, Colette and Geneviève. Mitterrands wife, Danielle Mitterrand (née Gouze, 1924–2011), came from a socialist background and worked for various left-wing causes. They married on 24 October 1944 and had three sons: Pascal (10 June 1945 – 17 September 1945), Jean-Christophe, born in 1946, and Gilbert, born on 4 February 1949. He also had two children as results of extra-marital affairs: a daughter, Mazarine (born 1974) with his mistress Anne Pingeot, and a son, Hravn Forsne (born 1988), with Swedish journalist Christina Forsne.[5] Hravn Forsne is currently running for a seat in the Swedish parliamentary election.[6][7] Mitterrands nephew Frédéric Mitterrand is a journalist, Minister of Culture and Communications under Nicolas Sarkozy (and a supporter of Jacques Chirac, former French President), and his wifes brother-in-law Roger Hanin is a well-known French actor. Early life[edit] Further information: France in the twentieth century, French Third Republic and Mitterrand and the far right Mitterrand studied from 1925 to 1934 in the Collège Saint-Paul in Angoulême, where he became a member of the Jeunesse Etudiante Chrétienne (JEC), the student organisation of Action catholique. Arriving in Paris in autumn 1934, he then went to the École Libre des Sciences Politiques until 1937, where he obtained his diploma in July of that year. Mitterrand took membership for about a year in the Volontaires nationaux (National Volunteers), an organisation related to François de la Rocques far-right league, the Croix de Feu; the league had just participated in the 6 February 1934 riots which led to the fall of the second Cartel des Gauches (Left-Wing Coalition).[8] Contrary to some reports, Mitterrand never became a formal member of the Parti Social Français (PSF) which was the successor to the Croix de Feu and may be considered the first French right-wing mass party.[8] However, he did write news articles in the LEcho de Paris newspaper, which was close to the PSF. He participated in the demonstrations against the métèque invasion in February 1935 and then in those against law teacher Gaston Jèze, who had been nominated as juridical counsellor of Ethiopias Negus, in January 1936. When Mitterrands involvement in these conservative nationalist movements was revealed in the 1990s, he attributed his actions to the milieu of his youth. Mitterrand furthermore had some personal and family relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s.[9] Mitterrand then served his conscription from 1937 to 1939 in the 23rd régiment dinfanterie coloniale. In 1938, he became the best friend of Georges Dayan, a Jewish socialist, whom he saved from anti-Semite aggressions by the national-royalist movement Action française.[10] His friendship with Dayan caused Mitterrand to begin to question some of his nationalist ideas. Finishing his law studies, he was sent in September 1939 to the Maginot line near Montmédy, with the rank of Sergeant-chief (infantry sergeant). He became engaged to Marie-Louise Terrasse (future actress Catherine Langeais) in May 1940 (but she broke it off in January 1942). Second World War[edit] François Mitterrands actions during World War II were the cause of much controversy in France in the 1980s and 1990s. Mitterrand was at the end of his national service when the war broke out. He fought as an infantry sergeant and was injured (ref unknown) and captured by the Germans on 14 June 1940. He was held prisoner at Stalag IXA near Ziegenhain (today part of Schwalmstadt, a town near Kassel in Hesse). Mitterrand became involved in the social organisation for the POWs in the camp (ref unknown). He claims this, and the influence of the people he met there, began to change his political ideas, moving them towards the left.[11] He had two failed escape attempts in March and then November 1941 before he finally escaped on 16 December 1941, returning to France on foot.[citation needed] In December 1941 he arrived home in the unoccupied zone controlled by the French. With help from a friend (ref unknown)of his mother he got a job as a mid-level functionary of the Vichy government, looking after the interests of POWs. This was very unusual for an escaped prisoner, and he later claimed to have served as a spy for the Free French Forces.[citation needed] Mitterrand worked from January to April 1942 for the Légion française des combattants et des volontaires de la révolution nationale (Legion of French combatants and volunteers of the national revolution) as a civil servant on a temporary contract. He worked under Jean-Paul Favre De Thierrens who was a spy for the British secret service. He then moved to the Commissariat au reclassement des prisonniers de guerre (Service for the orientation of POWS). During this period, Mitterrand was aware of Thierrenss activities and may have helped in his disinformation campaign[citation needed]. At the same time, he published an article detailing his time as a POW in the magazine France, revue de lÉtat nouveau (the magazine was published as propaganda by the Vichy Regime).[12] Mitterrand has been called a Vichysto-résistant (an expression used by the historian Jean-Pierre Azéma to describe people who supported Marshal Philippe Pétain, the head of the Vichy Regime, before 1943, but subsequently rejected the Vichy Regime).[13] From spring 1942, he met other escaped POWs Jean Roussel, Max Varenne, and Dr. Guy Fric, under whose influence he became involved with the resistance. In April, Mitterrand and Fric caused a major disturbance in a public meeting held by the collaborator Georges Claude. From mid-1942, he sent false papers to POWs in Germany (ref unknown) and on 12 June and 15 August 1942, he joined meetings at the Château de Montmaur which formed the base of his future network for the resistance.[14] From September, he made contact with France libre, but clashed with Michel Cailliau, General Charles de Gaulles nephew (and de Gaulles candidate to head-up all POW-related resistance organizations).[15] On 15 October 1942, Mitterrand and Marcel Barrois (a member of the resistance deported in 1944) met Marshal Philippe Pétain along with other members of the Comité dentraide aux prisonniers rapatriés de lAllier (Help group for repatriated POWs in the department of Allier).[16] By the end of 1942, Mitterrand met Pierre Guillain de Bénouville, an old friend from his days with La Cagoule. Bénouville was a member of the resistance groups Combat and Noyautage des administrations publiques (NAP). In late 1942, the non-occupied zone was invaded by the Germans. Mitterrand left the Commissariat in January 1943, when his boss Maurice Pinot, another vichysto-résistant, was replaced by the collaborator André Masson, but he remained in charge of the centres dentraides. In the spring of 1943, along with Gabriel Jeantet, a member of Marshal Pétains cabinet, and Simon Arbellot (both former members of La Cagoule), Mitterrand received the Ordre de la francisque (the honorific distinction of the Vichy Regime). Debate rages in France as to the significance of this. When Mitterrands Vichy past was exposed in the 1950s, he at first denied having received the Francisque (some sources say he was designated for the award, but never received the medal because he went into hiding before the ceremony took place)[17] Jean Pierre-Bloch says that Mitterrand was ordered to accept the medal as cover for his work in the resistance.[18] Pierre Moscovici and Jacques Attali remain skeptical of Mitterrands beliefs at this time, accusing him of having at best a foot in each camp until he was sure who the winner would be. They noted Mitterrands friendship with René Bousquet and the wreaths he was said to have placed on Pétains tomb in later years (see below) as examples of his ambivalent attitude.[19] Mitterrand built up a resistance network (ref unknown), composed mainly of former POWs. The POWs National Rally (Rassemblement national des prisonniers de guerre or RNPG) was affiliated with General Henri Giraud, a former POW who had escaped from a German prison and made his way across Germany back to the Allied forces. In 1943 Giraud was contesting with General Charles de Gaulle for the leadership of the French Resistance. From the beginning of 1943, Mitterrand became involved with setting up a powerful resistance group called the (ref unknown)Organisation de résistance de larmée (ORA). He obtained funding for his own RNPG network, which he set up with Pinot in February. From this time on, Mitterrand was a member of the ORA.[20] In March, Mitterrand met Henri Frenay, who encouraged the resistance in France to support Mitterrand over Michel Cailliau.[21] 28 May 1943, when Mitterrand met with Gaullist Philippe Dechartre, is generally taken as the date Mitterrand split with Vichy.[22] During 1943, the RNPG gradually changed from providing false papers to information-gathering for France libre. Pierre de Bénouville said, Mitterrand created a true spy network in the POW camps which gave us information, often decisive, about what was going on behind the German borders.[23] On 10 July Mitterrand and Piatzook (a militant communist) interrupted a public meeting in the Salle Wagram in Paris. The meeting was about allowing French POWs to go home if they were replaced by young French men forced to go and work in Germany (in French this was called la relève). When André Masson began to talk about la trahison des gaullistes (the Gaullist treason), Mitterrand stood up in the audience and shouted him down, saying Masson had no right to talk on behalf of POWs and calling la relève a con (i.e., something stupid). Mitterrand avoided arrest as Piatzook covered his escape.[24] In November 1943 the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) raided a flat in Vichy, where they hoped to arrest François Morland, a member of the resistance.[25] Morland was Mitterrands cover name. He also used Purgon, Monnier, Laroche, Captain François, Arnaud et Albre as cover names. The man they arrested was Pol Pilven, a member of the resistance who was to survive the war in a concentration camp. Mitterrand was in Paris at the time. Warned by his friends, he escaped to London aboard a Lysander plane on 15 November 1943 (piloted by then-Squadron Leader Lewis Hodges). From there he went to Algiers, where he met de Gaulle, by then the uncontested leader of the Free French. The two men clashed. Mitterrand refused to merge his group with other POW movements if de Gaulles nephew Cailliau was to be the leader.[26] Under the influence of Henri Frenay, de Gaulle finally agreed to merge his nephews network and the RNPG with Mitterrand in charge.[27] Mitterrand returned to France by boat via England. In Paris, the three Resistance groups made up of POWs (Communists, Gaullists, RNPG) finally merged as the POWs and Deportees National Movement (Mouvement national des prisonniers de guerre et déportés or MNPGD) and Mitterrand took the lead. In his memoirs, he says that he had started this organisation while he was still officially working for the Vichy Regime. From 27 November 1943 Mitterrand ran the Bureau central de renseignements et daction.[28][29] In December 1943 Mitterrand ordered the execution of Henri Marlin (who was about to order attacks on the Maquis) by Jacques Paris and Jean Munier, who later hid out with Mitterrands father). After a second visit to London in February 1944, Mitterrand took part in the liberation of Paris. When de Gaulle entered Paris following the Liberation, he was introduced to various men who were to be part of the provisional government. Among them was Mitterrand, as secretary general of POWs. When they came face to face, de Gaulle is said to have muttered: You again! He dismissed Mitterrand 2 weeks later. In October 1944 Mitterrand and Jacques Foccart developed a plan to liberate the POW and concentration camps. This was called operation Viacarage. On the orders of de Gaulle, in April 1945 Mitterrand accompanied General Lewis as the French representative at the liberation of the camps at Kaufering and Dachau. By chance Mitterrand discovered his friend and member of his network, Robert Antelme, suffering from typhus. Antelme was restricted to the camp to prevent the spread of disease, but Mitterrand arranged for his escape and sent him back to France for treatment.[30][31]
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