Jean-Marie Le Pen, who shaped French right-wing politics for five decades, died Tuesday at a care facility in Garches, near Paris. He was 96. His family announced Le Pen’s death, noting he spent his final moments “surrounded by his loved ones”.
Streets Fill with Joy and Anger
As news spread, French cities saw a different sight; crowds gathered to celebrate, while others mourned. In Paris’s Place de la République, hundreds raised champagne glasses and displayed signs reading “That filthy racist is dead.” Lyon’s streets filled with fireworks as 200 to 300 people assembled at the call of left-wing groups. In Marseille, protesters opened champagne bottles beneath banners declaring “Finally”.
Government ministers swiftly condemned these displays. “Nothing justifies dancing on a corpse,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau declared. “The death of a man, even a political opponent, should bring only restraint and dignity”.
Marine Le Pen learned of her father’s death while flying back from cyclone-damaged Mayotte. She wrote on social media: “Many people he loves are waiting for him up there. Many who love him are mourning him down here”.
From Soldier to Political Firebrand
Le Pen’s path to politics began in the military. As a paratrooper, he fought for France in Indochina and Algeria before founding the National Front in 1972. Le Pen’s political style mixed nationalist rhetoric with provocative statements about immigration and minorities.
Le Pen repeatedly targeted Muslim and Arab communities, blaming them for what he claimed were France’s economic and social problems. This approach earned him multiple convictions for inciting discrimination.
The Election that Changed France
Le Pen’s most startling achievement came in 2002, when he reached the presidential election’s second round, facing Jacques Chirac. The result jolted France, drawing 4.8 million voters to support his campaign.
Voters from left and right united against Le Pen, giving Chirac 82% of the vote; the biggest landslide in French modern history. Chirac’s vote count rose by nearly 20 million from the first round, while Le Pen gained just 700,000 more supporters.
Father and Daughter: A Political Estrangement
When Marine Le Pen took control of the National Front in 2011, she began reshaping its image. She sought to move past her father’s extremist reputation, leading to a public falling out. The split deepened in 2015 when she expelled Jean-Marie Le Pen from the party he had founded. She renamed it the National Rally, aiming for mainstream appeal while keeping its core nationalist message.
The timing of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s death adds pressure on Marine Le Pen, who faces trial over alleged misuse of European Parliament funds – charges that included her father, though he was excused due to failing health. Prosecutors seek to recover more than €3 million, with the party already repaying €1 million while denying wrongdoing.
Legacy Lives On
Le Pen’s funeral will take place Saturday in La Trinité-sur-Mer, Brittany, where he was born. A religious ceremony will follow on January 16 at Paris’s Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce church.
The National Rally’s statement after his death showed how the party still wrestles with its founder’s memory, praising him as a man who “held in his hands the small flickering flame of the French Nation” – words that capture both the party’s evolution and its unchanging core.
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