French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen dies aged 96
The controversial figure founded the far-right Front National in 1972 and reached the second round of France’s 2002 presidential election
Jean-Marie Le Pen, pictured in 2022, founded the far-right Front National in 1972
Credit: MAXPPP / Alamy Stock Photo
French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen died on Tuesday, January 7, his family said. He was 96.
Mr Le Pen was one of the most influential, controversial and important French politicians of the last 60 years.
He founded the far-right Front National party in 1972, which was rebranded as Rassemblement National in 2018 by his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who took over the party leadership in 2011.
Mr Le Pen took part in five presidential elections in 1974, 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007.
He reached the second round of France 2002’s presidential election, a result that shocked the nation.
Mr Le Pen was renowned for his controversial remarks – he was a Holocaust denier and expressed extreme views on race and immigration.
He had been in a care facility for several weeks and died at midday on Tuesday "surrounded by his loved ones", his family said in a statement.
The Elysée, reacting to news of Mr Le Pen's death on Tuesday said he had "played a role in the public life of our country for nearly 70 years" which would now be "subject to the judgement of history".
Rassemblement National President Jordan Bardella paid tribute Mr Le Pen, writing on X that he “always served France, defended its identity and its sovereignty”.
Torture in Algeria
Le Pen was born on June 20, 1928 in Trinité-sur-Mer (Morbihan).
He joined the French army in 1953 and was deployed in Indochina and Algeria during two of France’s wars. He was accused in Algeria of torture, actions he admitted in 1962 to newspaper Combat saying that it “had to be done”.
Mr Le Pen is known for having worn a bandana on his left eye since 1965 after he lost the usage of it following a cataract. He switched to a glass eye in the mid-80s.
He founded the Front National in 1972 with members of far-right movement Ordre nouveau and former Waffen-SS officer Pierre Bousquet. He took part in his first presidential election in 1974, scoring less than 1%.
His next two attempts in 1988 and 1995 grew his base of voters, securing more than four million votes in 1988 and reaching 15% of votes in 1995.
His most notable achievement in French politics is to have reached the second-round of the presidential election against incumbent president Jacques Chirac in 2002, benefiting from the scattering of votes across many left candidates.
He finished fourth in 2007’s presidential election.
‘Gas chamber a detail of World War II’
Mr Le Pen is also notorious for his tendency to court controversy – a habit that led to his successful prosecution for defending war crimes and inciting racial hatred.
In total he was found guilty five times on such charges.
His most infamous and controversial one is when he said that the gas chambers used by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews were “just a detail of World War II”.
He also nicknamed Michel Durafour, then public sector minister, “Mister Durafour-Crématoire”, a play-on-word with the French ‘four crématoire’ (crematory oven). As a result he again faced charges of public insult and defamation.
He was expelled from his party in 2015 by his daughter after repeating his Holocaust denial.
