Jowharlooks at the most important dates in the life of former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who died on Wednesday, aged 94, of complications related to Covid-19.
February 2, 1926: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was born in Koblenz, Germany.
1944: Enters the École Polytechnique in Paris, graduated in 1951 from the respected École Nationale d’Administration (ENA).
1962-1966: Minister of Finance in the successive cabinet of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou (during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle).
1966: Establishes the Fédération Nationale des Républicains Indépendants, which in 1977 becomes the center-right Parti Républicain.
1969-1974: Minister of Finance in the successive governments of Prime Ministers Jacques Chaban-Delmas and Pierre Messmer (during the Pompidou Presidency).
May 19, 1974: Giscard d’Estaing is elected president with 50.8 percent of the vote against 49.2 percent for the socialist François Mitterrand.
1978: The Union pour la démocratie française (UDF), which consists of various democratic and center-right parties, is formed in support of Giscard d’Estaing. He is the group’s leader from 1986 to 1996.
May 10, 1981: Giscard d’Estaing loses the presidential election by 48.2 percent of the vote to Mitterrand’s 51.7 percent.
1989-1993: Serves as Member of the European Parliament.
2001: Giscard d’Estaing is elected by EU leaders to lead the work on an EU constitutional treaty. The draft was rejected in 2005 by French and Dutch voters.
2003: Becomes the first former head of state to be named the elite Académie Française.
2004: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing ends his active political career after losing his seat as a Member of Parliament but joins the French Constitutional Council.
( Jowharwith AFP)