(Ce Journal a été composé patiemment pendant sept ans par ...)
Ce Journal a été composé patiemment pendant sept ans par François Mitterrand sur vingt-deux blocs de papier à lettres, qu'il remettait une fois terminés à son grand amour caché, Anne Pingeot. Ce sont plus de sept cents feuillets enluminés par des découpages de photographies, publicités, dessins et articles de journaux, entrelacés aux réflexions manuscrites de l'auteur. François Mitterrand s'y dévoile autant dans son amour pour Anne que dans sa lecture critique de la société qui l'entoure. Les juxtapositions sont passionnantes pour comprendre celui qui a eu toute sa vie la réputation d'être impénétrable. On voit d'abord ses stratégies pour parvenir à incarner peu à peu une gauche éparpillée qu'il va réussir à rassembler. On découvre qui il fréquente, ses futurs discours, ses entretiens donnés à la presse. Tous les documents sont soigneusement découpés et collés, agrémentés d'un commentaire. Le résultat est plastiquement fascinant, et on ne se lasse pas de feuilleter cet univers qui révèle un homme passionné par le visuel et plein d'humour. L'ensemble est l'un des documents les plus extraordinaires que l'on puisse donner à lire, d'une importance historique majeure. Jamais on n'avait pu connaître si intimement l'esprit de François Mitterrand ni, à vrai dire, celui d'aucun grand dirigeant du XXe siècle.
Anthologie sonore des discours de François Mitterrand (1981-1995)
(Il était temps de remettre à la disposition du public les...)
Il était temps de remettre à la disposition du public les discours majeurs de François Mitterrand, Président de la République de 1981 à 1995, sur l'ensemble des faits historiques et des idées sur lesquels il a réagi et imprimé intellectuellement une histoire de la France. Les discours - ou extraits de discours - ici proposés ont été sélectionnés judicieusement par l'équipe des chercheurs et historiens de l'Institut François Mitterrand avec l'appui de ceux qui ont conseillé, rédigé ou préparé, avec le Président de la République, un certain nombre de ces allocutions (Hubert Védrine, Gilles Ménage, Michel Charasse...). "Les éditions sonores Frémeaux & Associés ont pris l'heureuse initiative, à l'occasion du dixième anniversaire de la disparition de François Mitterrand, de réunir dans un audio une sélection des plus importants discours de l'ancien Président de la République. L'institut François Mitterrand s'est volontiers associé à ce projet. Au cours de ses deux septennats, le Président de la République aura prononcé plus de deux milles discours, totalisant un millier d'heures d'enregistrement. Comment rendre compte de cette richesse ? Nous avons sélectionné ses plus importantes rencontres sur la scène internationale - au Bundestag, à la Knesset, à La Baule, devant l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies, etc. -, ses grands discours de politique intérieure - sur les questions économiques et sociales, la culture, etc. - ainsi que certaines prises de parole moins connues. L'auditeur ou l'auditrice trouvera donc rassemblés ici cinquante-trois extraits de discours et allocutions prononcés par François Mitterrand, aussi bien en France qu'à l'étranger, depuis son entrée en fonction le 21 mai 1981 jusqu'à son discours du 8 mai 1995 à Berlin à l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire de la fin de la guerre en Europe. Nul doute qu'il (elle) ressente l'émotion qu'a toujours su faire passer cette grande voix et qui est déjà pour nous, vingt-cinq ans après, le souffle de l'histoire." Hubert Védrine, Président de l'Institut François Mitterrand (Porte-parole de l'Elysée 1988-1991, Secrétaire général de l'Elysée 1991-1995, Ministre des affaires étrangères 1997-2002).
also known asFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand, Francois Mitterrand, François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand, Tonton, François-Maurice-Marie Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in French history. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he was the first left-winger to be elected President of France under the Fifth Republic.
Background
François Mitterrand was born in Jarnac, Charente, in a Catholic and conservative family. His father, Gilbert Félix Joseph, was an agent of a railroad company, then vinegar maker, and later President of the Federation of vinegar maker trade-unions, whose maternal grandmother was a noblewoman, descendant of Kings Fernando III of Castile and Jean de Brienne of Jerusalem. His mother was Marie Gabrielle Yvonne Lorrain. He had three brothers (Robert, Jacques, and Philippe) and four sisters.
Education
Mitterrand studied from 1925 to 1934, in Angoulême, where he became a member of the JEC, the student organization of Action Catholique. Arriving in Paris in autumn 1934, he then went to the Ecole 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 organization related to François de la Rocque's far-right league, the Croix de Feu—the league had just participated in the February 6, 1934 riots which led to the fall of the second Cartel des Gauches (Left-Wing Coalition). Contrary to what has been said, he never took his card at the Parti Social Français (PSF) which succeeded to the Croix de Feu and may be considered as the first French right-wing mass party. However, he did write news articles in Henri de Kerillis' L'Echo de Paris newspaper, close to the PSF. He participated in the xenophobic demonstrations against the "métèque invasion" in February 1935, and then in those against law teacher Gaston Jèze, who had been nominated as juridical counselor of Ethopia's Negus, in January 1936. When this involvement in nationalist movements came to be known in the 1990s, he attributed these political acts to the milieu of his youth. Mitterrand furthermore had some personal relations with members of the Cagoule, a far-right terrorist group in the 1930s. In a logical way for his then-nationalist ideas, he was disturbed by Nazi expansionism during the Anschluss.
Mitterrand then served his conscription term in the colonial troops, from 1937 to 1939. In 1938, he became the best friend of Georges Dayan, a Jewish socialist, after having saved him from anti-semitic aggressions of the national-royalist movement Action française. Finishing his law studies, he was sent to the Maginot line in September 1939.
Serving as a sergeant in the war, he was wounded and captured near Verdun in May of 1940 by the Germans.
He was 3 times mentioned, then injured and imprisoned but he escaped in December 1941 during his transfer to another war camp. Back to France, he joined the Résistance where he had an important role. After the war, in November 1946, he was elected deputy in the Nièvre and had several ministerial responsibilities during the 10 first years of the Fourth Republic. He was Minister of the French Overseas Departments, which allowed him to show his will of decolonization, to calm different tensions in the colonies and to create personal and lasting relationships with African leaders; then he retired from this post in 1953 before becoming Secretary of State for the Home Department in 1954-1955 and Minister of Justice in 1956.
In 1958, he criticized the Fifth Republic and the way Charles de Gaulle became president and lost his deputy seat, which he got again in 1962 after a short time at the Senate. Then he became mayor of Château-Chinon in 1959 and president of the General Council of the Nièvre in 1964. When the constitution was modified in 1962, it said that French people would directly elect the President of the Republic; thus Mitterrand was the only left-side candidate in 1965 and was qualified for the second round where he had 45% against Charles de Gaulle. The next presidential elections (in 1969) were a disaster for the left-side parties (with Georges Pompidou's victory) but after the reform of the Socialist Party in Epinay in 1971, Mitterrand became definitely the candidate of the "Left Union" and after having failed again (but shortly) in 1974 against Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, he was elected in 1981 then again in 1988. His 14-years-long presidency mainly allowed him to take a lot of social measures that were expected by the workers, but also to abolish the death penalty, to modernize the penal code, to extend and enforce the freedom of speech, etc... He was also careful of the involvement of France in big international problems (especially in the name of peace) and comfimed the place of France within the European Union. He also allowed several "Big Projects" to be developed as the Pyramid of the Louvre, the Arche de la Défense and the National Library (which later took his name), and he also became one of the best political writer of the 20th century.
He died from cancer, less than one year after having finished his second presidency, at the age of 79.
Achievements
He was elected president of France and served for 14 years—longer than any other head of state in the five Republics since the Revolution of 1789.
Mitterrand, like Pierre Mendès-France, began his career as a Radical but became a Socialist. He was also one of the few non-Communists to oppose Charles de Gaulle's return to power in 1958.
Mitterrand achieved leadership of the left through his early recognition that a viable left opposition to Gaullism, with its initial trans-class appeal, required both revitalization of the non-Communist left and alliance with the Communists.
Years of acrimony between the two major left parties had forced the Socialists into compromising coalitions with centrist parties and isolated the Communists.
From his position as leader of a political club outside the major party machines, Mitterrand began implementing his ideas in 1965 when he was accepted as the sole left presidential candidate against De Gaulle. His strong showing (45 percent of the runoff vote) helped him to gain control over a new non-Communist left federation (FGDS), which he pushed into further cooperation with the Communists.
The red scare resulting from the May 1968 student revolt and worker-farmer general strike set back these efforts. But in 1971 Mitterrand was asked to help oust the temporizing party old guard in the newly reconstructed Socialist Party.
Mitterrand helped forge a more cohesive and dynamic party whose new strategy, based on class front, union of the left, and autogestion (self-management), brought great electoral and membership gains. In 1972 the Communists, Socialists, and Left Radicals agreed on a common program, which led to major left gains in the 1973 legislative contest and to a near victory for Mitterrand over Valery Giscard d'Estaing in the 1974 presidential race (49. 2 percent of the runoff vote). The prospect of left victory in the 1978 legislative elections was dashed in September 1977, when the Communists broke the alliance.
But in the 1981 presidential race, when Mitterrand was again Giscard's major opponent, he won the runoff election with Communist support. Mitterrand's victory in May was followed by legislative elections in June, in which the Socialists won a parliamentary majority. This enabled Mitterrand to begin carrying out social and economic reforms, including the nationalization of several large banks and corporations, dismantling of the prefectoral system, under which local governments had been tightly controlled from Paris, and abolition of capital punishment.
In 1986 opposition parties won legislative elections and Jacques Chirac, the Gaullist leader, became premier. Mitterrand, by his policy of "cohabitation"--imposing restraint but avoiding confrontation--with the new rightist government, enhanced his stature as a statesman "above the battle. " In contrast, his opponents were made to seem like ambitious, squabbling politicians.
In May 1988 Mitterrand won reelection by a wide margin over Chirac. The next month legislative elections restored a Socialist government. During his second term Mitterrand pressed hard for closer political and economic unity in Europe as outlined in the European Community's agreement at Maastricht, the Netherlands, signed in December 1991.
In June 1992 Mitterrand called a popular referendum on the Maastricht treaty, which was particularly opposed by the extreme right. After a tense campaign, the treaty was approved in September by a very narrow margin. Parliamentary elections in March 1993 were won by the opposition parties, and Edouard Balladur, a Gaullist, became premier.
In September 1992 Mitterrand underwent an operation for prostate cancer.
In July 1994 he had another operation, and there was speculation that he would not be able to finish out his term of office. Later in 1994 a new biography was published that revealed that Mitterrand had served the collaborationist Vichy regime as a minor functioniary before joining the resistance in World War II.
Views
His first term (1981-88) was marked by an economic policy that aimed to enhance economic activities such as nationalization, improved wages, hike in social benefits etc. Efforts were streamlined to improve housing and health care facilities and improved employment opportunities for women. The first decentralization law, the Defferre Act was passed by Mitterrand.
Social policies during his term aimed at the pensioners who obtained a right to full pension at the age of 60. Efforts were made for the elderly to ensure their stay at home instead of residential care houses.
The health care sector was also revamped through decentralization of hospital administration, improvement of research facilities and strengthening of worker’s right in the health sector.
Efforts to strengthen the education system were evident by the increase in the education budget. Various disciplines were made mandatory such as civics, French history, technical education etc.
Death penalty was abolished via the Badinter Act. Strict rules for legal and police investigations were introduced.
With respect to cultural policies, media was made liberal, the CSA media regulation agency was formed and a private broadcasting sector was introduced. Music was encouraged by setting-up music schools.
Mitterrand was not far behind on the foreign policy front too. He continued the testing of nuclear weapons and stayed away from NATO but kept active involvement with African affairs.
Making considerable efforts for building a consolidated European unanimity was proposed by his Treaty on European Union in 1991 during his second term. This treaty focused on a central banking system, common currency and an integrated foreign policy.
He also appointed Edith Cresson as the first woman Prime Minister in the French history.
Quotations:
"Communism is born out of misery, and if the West does not show more understanding, those people will take up arms and turn to others, that is the Soviet Union." - François Mitterrand
"I started my political life in the Resistance. It was there that I had my first responsibility." - François Mitterrand
"Behind each great man, there's a Richard Delisle." - François Mitterrand
"For me, Greece is Maria Farantouri. This is how I imagined Goddess Hera to be: strong, pure and vigilant. I have never encountered any other artist able to give me such a strong sense of the divine." - François Mitterrand
"France could have all the socialism its capitalistic economy could support." - François Mitterrand
"A man loses contact with reality if he is not surrounded by his books." - François Mitterrand
"France is delighted at this new opportunity to show the world ... that when one has the will one can succeed in joining peoples who have been brought close by history." - François Mitterrand
"Nationalism is war. - in arguing to strengthen the federal powers of the European Union." - François Mitterrand
"The problem is that the East is producing missiles and the West is producing pacifists." - François Mitterrand
Membership
He was a member of the Jeunesse Etudiante Chrétienne (JEC), a member of the UDSR party, a member of the National Assembly of France for Nièvre: 1946–1958 / 1962–1981 (resignation, became President of the French Republic in 1981). Elected in 1946, reelected in 1951, 1956, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1978.
Connections
Mitterrand's 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: an acknowledged daughter, Mazarine (born 1974), with his mistress Anne Pingeot, and an unacknowledged son, Hravn Forsne (born 1988), with Swedish journalist Christina Forsne.
Francois Mitterrand: A Study in Political Leadership - Kindle edition by Alistair Cole. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Francois Mitterrand is one of France's most famous twentieth-century politicians, yet interpretations of his values and leadership vary widely. Alistair Cole starts with a chronological overview of Mitterrand's career which is developed into a policy-based assessment of Mitterrand's presidency from 1981-93. By evaluating Mitterrand's policies in relation to various key roles such as the party leader, the President, the dispenser of patronage, the European statesman and the World Leader, this book places his leadership in comparative perspective, and offers a new understanding of him as an individual political leader. This book will be invaluable for students of contemporary European politics as well for those interested in the career of one of Europe's leading statesmen.
François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand was a controversial politician with a contested strategy and a flawed character. In spite of being one of France's most detested political figures, he was also undoubtedly one of twentieth century Europe's most substantial, durable and statesmanlike leaders. From his much-disputed passages at Vichy during WWII through the major policies of his presidency, Mitterrand's career is a lens through which one can view the anxieties, fears, and instabilities, as well as achievements and successes of contemporary French political history. In this first major political biography since his death, Ronald Tiersky looks at the contradiction that was Mitterrand and the legacy he left to France and the world. This promises to be the standard book on this great world leader for years to come. "[Tiersky's] crisp, energetic narration gives both a sense of the biographer's fascination with his subject and an appreciation for the sheer breadth of Mitterrand's experience. " - Publishers Weekly
A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand (John MacRae Books)
The man who changed the course of modern France In 1981, François Mitterrand became France's first popularly elected socialist president. By the time he completed his mandate, he had led the country for 14 years, longer than any other French head of state in modern times. Mitterrand mirrored France in all its imperfections and tragedies, its cowardice and glory, its weakness and its strength. In the wake of the Observatory affair (in which he orchestrated his own assassination attempt), his secretiveness and mistrust grew more pronounced, especially when details of a second family came to light; he was a mixture of "Machiavelli, Don Corleone, Casanova and the Little Prince," said his doctor. During the German occupation, Mitterrand hedged his bets by joining Petain's Vichy government. Later in 1943, under the nom de guerre of Morland (and 30 other aliases), Mitterrand quit Vichy for the Resistance and a paramilitary organization. He changed the ground rules of French social and political debate in ways more far-reaching and fundamental than any other modern leader before him, helping set the agenda for France and Europe for generations to come. Philip Short's A Taste for Intrigue will fill the gap and become the standard against which all other Mitterrand biographies are set.
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