FORMER French President Jacques Chirac has died at the age of 86. Here’s what we know about the late politician, whose progressive policies were overshadowed by charges of corruption. How did Jacques Chirac die and how old was he? Chirac died this morning, on September 26, 2019. His son-in-law told AFP that the former President […]
FORMER French President Jacques Chirac has died at the age of 86.
Here’s what we know about the late politician, whose progressive policies were overshadowed by charges of corruption.
Chirac died this morning, on September 26, 2019.
His son-in-law told AFP that the former President “died this morning surrounded by his family, peacefully”.
Chirac was 86.
His health had steadily deteriorated since leaving office in 2007, and he’d suffered a stroke in 2005.
Chirac had rarely been seen in public since the death of his daughter in 2016, and appeared increasingly frail in recent months.
Chirac is survived by his wife Bernadette Chodron de Courcel.
The pair married in 1956 and had two daughters, Laurence and Claude.
Laurence died from a heart attack, at 58, in 2016.
Claude, 54, runs her father’s political and charitable foundation.
Jacques once described Laurence’s struggles with mental health as “the greatest tragedy of my life”.
The couple also have a foster daughter, Anh Dao Trazel.
Chirac is also survived by a grandson, Martin Rey-Chirach, son of Claude and Thierry Rey.
Chirac served two terms as French president, from 1995 to 2007.
The consummate politician was also France’s prime minister from 1974 until 1976, and from 1986 until 1988.
Born in 1932, Jacques René Chirac was the son of a bank manager who went on to become the MD of the Dassault aircraft company.
Nicknamed “Le Bulldozer” for his determination early on his career, he became a figure in French political life from the early 1960s.
He started as an adviser to the prime minister George Pompidou, becoming an MP in rural Corrèze and then a minister.
Before he finally became president in 1995, he founded a political party, the Gaullist Rally for the Republic, served twice as prime minister and failed twice at a presidential election.
As president, one of his major reforms was to cut the term from seven to five years.
He was France’s second longest-serving post-war president after his predecessor, Francois Miterrand.
Chirac was a passionate Francophile and introduced France to the Euro.
A veteran himself, he was also a vocal opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, contributing to strained relations between himself and Tony Blair.
In 2011, he became the first former president of France to be convicted on criminal charges.
He faced up to 10 years in jail and fines of up to €150,000 after being found guilty of embezzlement and breach of trust between 1990 and 1995, when he was mayor of Paris.
He was spared jail but given a suspended sentence of two years.
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