| François Hollande | |
|---|---|
| First Secretary of the Socialist Party | |
| In office 27 November 1997 – 26 November 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Lionel Jospin |
| Succeeded by | Martine Aubry |
| Mayor of Tulle | |
| In office 17 March 2001 – 17 March 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Raymond-Max Aubert |
| Succeeded by | Bernard Combes |
| Deputy of the National Assembly for Corrèze |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 12 June 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Raymond-Max Aubert |
| In office 23 June 1988 – 1 April 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Constituency Created |
| Succeeded by | Raymond-Max Aubert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | François Gérard Georges Hollande[1] 12 August 1954 Rouen, France |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Domestic partner | Ségolène Royal (1970s–2007) Valérie Trierweiler (2007–present) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | HEC Paris Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris École Nationale d'Administration |
| Religion | none[2] |
François Gérard Georges Hollande (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa ɔlɑ̃d]; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician. From 1997 to 2008, he was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party. He has also served as a Deputy of the National Assembly of France, representing the first constituency of Corrèze, since 1997. He previously represented that seat from 1988 to 1993. He was the Mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008 and has been the President of the General Council of Corrèze since 2008.
On 16 October 2011, Hollande was nominated as the Socialist and Left Radical Party candidate in France's 2012 presidential election; his main opponent is expected to be the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.[3]
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Hollande was born in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, the son of Nicole (Tribert), a social worker, and Georges Hollande, an ear, nose, and throat doctor.[1][4] He is a graduate of HEC (École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris),[5] Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and ENA (École Nationale d'Administration). He worked as a councillor in the Court of Accounts.
Having participated in François Mitterrand's campaign in the 1974 presidential election when he was student, five years later, he joined the Socialist Party (PS). He was quickly spotted by Jacques Attali, a close adviser of the PS leader. In 1981, after the election of Mitterrand as President of France, he competed in the legislative election in Corrèze department against Jacques Chirac, leader of the RPR Neo-Gaullist Party, but he lost in the first round. During the first term of Mitterrand's presidency, he worked with Jacques Attali, became special adviser of President, then in the staff of Max Gallo, spokesperson of the government. Municipal councillor of Ussel since 1983, he won a seat in the French National Assembly in 1988 in the bordering constituency, a position he held until the "blue wave" of the 1993 legislative election. In 1989, he left Ussel to became deputy-mayor of Tulle, but he lost this position when the Right won the municipality in 1995.
In a party torn by the struggle of factions of the post-Mitterrand era, he pleaded for the reconciliation behind Jacques Delors, president of the European Commission and putative candidate in the 1995 presidential election. When Lionel Jospin took the lead of the party, he chose him as spokesperson of the PS. Then, when Jospin was nominated Prime Minister, after "Plural Left"'s victory in the 1997 legislative election, he succeded him as First Secretary. Simultaneously, he reconquered his seat in the National Assembly, before to be elected Mayor of Tulle in 2001. From 1997 until 2002, as he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party, some called him "vice prime minister" according to Serge Raffy's biography.
The withdrawal of Lionel Jospin on the heels of the 21 April 2002 electoral shock placed him in the front line of the political battle. Leading the PS campaign in the 2002 legislative election, he limited degats but, although he was re-elected in his constituency, nationally the Left lost. In order to prepare for the 2003 PS Congress in Dijon, he obtained the support of the main personalities of the party and was re-elected First Secretary against the left-wing factions. After the triumph of the Left and notably of the PS in the 2004 regional elections, he appeared as a possible candidate for presidency. But the party divided about the project of European Constitution. He supported the "yes" position in the French referendum on the European Constitution, thus opposing the party's number two leader, Laurent Fabius. Hollande organised an internal vote on the party's position on 1 December 2004, in which representatives voted by a 59% margin for the 'yes' position; the constitution was eventually defeated by the French public in May 2005. Although he was re-elected as First Secretary in Le Mans Congress, his authority over the party gradually declined. He was criticized for his gout for the synthesis between the party factions. Finally, his partner Segolene Royal was elected to represent the PS in the 2007 presidential race. However, he was considered as responsible of the defeats of the party in the 2007 national elections. Announcing he will not be a candidate for another term as First Secretary, he supported the Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe, but finally Martine Aubry succeded him in 2008.
Hollande won the Socialist and Left Radical Party's primary election on October 16, 2011, and became both parties' official nomination for the 2012 presidential election.[6] After the primary, he gained the political support of the other contenders for the party's nomination, including Martine Aubry, Arnaud Montebourg, also his previous partner and 2007 presidential candidate Ségolène Royal.[7]
His partner was Ségolène Royal (they never married) with whom he has four children - Thomas (1984), Clémence (1985), Julien (1987) and Flora (1992). In June 2007, just a month after Royal's defeat in the French presidential election of 2007, the couple announced that they were separating.[8]
Shortly after his split from Ségolène Royal was announced, the French website lepolitique.com published details of a relationship between Hollande and a French journalist, Valérie Trierweiler. Many considered this to be a breach of France's strict stance on politicians' personal privacy. In November 2007, Valérie Trierweiler discussed openly her relationship with Hollande in an interview with French weekly Télé 7 Jours.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Lionel Jospin |
First Secretary of the Socialist Party 1997–2008 |
Succeeded by Martine Aubry |
| Preceded by Ségolène Royal |
Socialist Party nominee for President of France 2012 |
Most recent |
| Radical Party of the Left nominee for President of France 2012 |
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