French ex-President Chirac's widow Bernadette dies at 93
The former first lady led the Pièces Jaunes charity and held local office in Corrèze for decades, becoming one of France’s most visible political spouses.
- Bernadette Chirac, widow of former French president Jacques Chirac, died on Friday evening at the age of 93. Her daughter Claude Chirac confirmed the news to AFP on Saturday.
- Born in Paris in 1933, Chirac married Jacques Chirac in 1956 and became France's only first lady to hold elected political office, serving as a general councillor for the Corrèze department from 1979 to 2015.
- Married for over 60 years, Chirac remained largely in the shadow of the "great man" initially, though she played a crucial role in her husband's 2002 re-election and led the popular Yellow Coins campaign for hospitalized children.
- Nicknamed "Bernie," Chirac warned Jacques Chirac about the rise of National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002 and opposed his 1997 decision to dissolve parliament, blaming Élysée Palace secretary general Dominique de Villepin.
- French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Chirac on Saturday, describing her as a "great lady with a big heart" who "left her mark on our history" and changed many lives through her commitment to hospitals.
154 Articles
154 Articles
The widow of the French ex-president was an "animal politique". She had not only money and connections to the aristocracy, but also a political sense that her husband sometimes lacked.
Bernadette Chirac, who was married to former French President Jacques Chirac for over sixty years, has died at the age of 93. The former First Lady was particularly popular with the French people and was a driving force behind Chirac's political rise. For instance, she advised her husband throughout his long political career. "She is the woman of my life, we have achieved so much together," Jacques Chirac wrote in his memoirs in 2011. Chirac, wh…
leprogres.fr
Bernadette Chirac, widow of the former President of the Republic Jacques Chirac, died Friday night at the age of 93. A personality also greeted as an independent political woman and engaged in supporting the sick.
Bernadette Chirac died on Friday 5 June at the age of 93. The wife of the former President of the Republic will have shared all her life with her husband the love of politics. She is the only First Lady to have had an elected office she held in Corrèze for 36 years in a row. In this department, the announcement of her death was received with great emotion today. In Sarran, she was not only the wife of the head of state, she was a local elected w…
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