François Mitterrand

Known for ActingBorn 1916-10-26Died 1996-01-08Jarnac, Charente, France

François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former Socialist Party First Secretary, he was the first left-wing politician to assume the presidency under the Fifth Republic. Due to family influences, Mitterrand started his political life on the Catholic nationalist right. He served under the Vichy regime during its earlier years. Subsequently, he joined the Resistance, moved to the left, and held ministerial office several times under the Fourth Republic. Mitterrand opposed Charles de Gaulle's establishment of the Fifth Republic. Although at times a politically isolated figure, he outmanoeuvred rivals to become the left's standard bearer in the 1965 and 1974 presidential elections, before being elected president in the 1981 presidential election. He was re-elected in 1988 and remained in office until 1995. Mitterrand invited the Communist Party into his first government, which was a controversial decision at the time. However, the Communists were boxed in as junior partners and, rather than taking advantage, saw their support eroded, eventually leaving the cabinet in 1984. Early in his first term, Mitterrand followed a radical left-wing economic agenda, including nationalisation of key firms and the introduction of the 39-hour work week. He likewise pushed a progressive agenda with reforms such as the abolition of the death penalty, and the end of a government monopoly in radio and television broadcasting. He was also a strong promoter of French culture and implemented a range of "Grands Projets". However, faced with economic tensions, he soon abandoned his nationalization programme, in favour of austerity and market liberalization policies. In 1985, he was faced with a major controversy after ordering the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace vessel docked in Auckland. Later in 1991, he became the first French President to appoint a female prime minister, Édith Cresson. During his presidency, Mitterrand was twice forced by the loss of a parliamentary majority into "cohabitation governments" with conservative cabinets led, respectively, by Jacques Chirac (1986–1988), and Édouard Balladur (1993–1995). Mitterrand’s foreign and defence policies built on those of his Gaullist predecessors, except in regard to their reluctance to support European integration, which he reversed. His partnership with German chancellor Helmut Kohl advanced European integration via the Maastricht Treaty, and he accepted German reunification. Less than eight months after leaving office, he 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-dominant Communist Party. ... Source: Article "François Mitterrand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.Read more

Movies & web series

Laissez-faire

François Mitterrand et la guerre d'Algérie

Télévision (histoires secrètes)

Écoutez La Bourse Du Travail De Paris

Unveiling Arafat

De Gaulle, le géant aux pieds d'argile

François Mitterrand, à bout portant : 1993-1996

Chernobyl: Inside the Meltdown

Mitterrand et la télé

Dreyfus: The Intolerable Truth

Apostrophes

10 mai 1981 : Changer la vie ?

Congrès de Tours 1920: The Birth of the French Communist Party

Laboratory Greece

Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément... Les Présidents et les Français

1958: Those Who Said No

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe

The Revenge of Bernadette Chirac

TGV, génie français du rail

Le Grand Échiquier

Mr & Mme Adelman

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

De Charles de Gaulle à Emmanuel Macron, les gardiens de l'empire

At War for Algeria

Entretien politique : Histoire et mode d'emploi

1974, l'alternance Giscard

De Gaulle, the Last King of France

Fashion !

The Incredible Mr. Piccoli

François Mitterrand : Conversations avec un Président

L'Amour Fou

Reporters

Il était une fois Champs-Élysées

Ziva Postec: The Editor Behind the Film Shoah

Chili Impressions

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

1974, une partie de campagne

La banlieue, c’est le paradis

The Society of the Spectacle

Statues Also Die

La Malédiction de la Grande Arche

Cent jours

François Mitterrand & Anne Pingeot: Pieces of a Love Story

Les vendredis d'Apostrophes

François Mitterrand : le roman du pouvoir

30 millions d'amis

Who Is Bernard Tapie?

Vivement dimanche