Jean-Marie Le Pen, Founder of France’s National Front, Dies at 96
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the French far-right party National Front, has passed away at the age of 96, according to a report by the French news agency AFP, citing his family. The family was quoted by the newspaper Le Monde as saying, “Jean-Marie Le Pen was called back to God on Tuesday morning, surrounded by his family.”
The former politician, who had been reported to have been moved to a care home just a few weeks prior, had a long and controversial career. As a young man, Le Pen served as a paratrooper in the French colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria. In 1972, he founded the National Front, a party that would go on to play a significant role in French politics.
Le Pen’s most notable electoral achievement was in 2002, when he unexpectedly made it to the runoff in the presidential election, only to lose decisively to Jacques Chirac. His daughter, Marine Le Pen, would later succeed him as the party’s leader in 2011, but their relationship would ultimately deteriorate, with Marine accusing her father of open racism. In 2015, Jean-Marie Le Pen was expelled from the party, and in 2018, the National Front rebranded as the National Rally, now seeking to appeal to a broader electorate and move towards the political center.