Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right party Front National, has died. He was 96.
His family confirmed the news in a statement sent to the AFP and said he died “surrounded by his loved ones.”
One of France’s best known and most controversial political figures, Le Pen led the Front National Party from 1972 to 2011 and ran for president five times. He got close to winning during the 2002 presidential election when he beat socialist candidate Lionel Jospin in the first round to face Jacques Chirac in the second round. The latter ended up winning the election with a 82%, vote which reflected Le Pen’s highly polarizing profile and the French people’s visceral reaction to his racist and xenophobic rhetoric.
Le Pen, a former French Foreign Legion paratrooper who served during Algeria’s war for independence and was accused of torturing detainees, embodied a radical far right. He was sued and fined many times over the course of his career for denying crimes against humanity, going as far as calling the Holocaust a “mere detail” in the history of World War 2 and praising France’s Vichy government which collaborated with the Nazis, claiming it wasn’t responsible for the deportation of Jews.
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Le Pen’s daughter, Marine Le Pen, stepped in as president of the Front National party in 2011 and eventually ousted him in 2015 as she proceeded to rebrand the party to Rassemblement National with a more populist messaging.
Marine Le Pen notoriously clashed with her father over his incendiary comments, which worked against her efforts to broaden the appeal of her nationalistic and populist party. Her strategy has paid off, as the Rassemblement National has gained tremendous ground in the last 10 years and has also been given unprecedented exposure in mainstream French media.
Le Pen’s party made historical gains in June when it dominated the European elections by a landslide with 31.5% of votes, and later during the parliamentary elections when it emerged with an increased presence in the National Assembly. The Rassemblement National is expected to play a pivotal role in the next presidential election in 2027.
Le Pen was meant to stand trial with his daughter Marine over embezzlement allegations, but was excused from attending court for health reasons last July. His grand-daughter, Marion Maréchal, is also a well-known far right figure in France and founded her own party, Identité-Liberté, in October.
He is survived by his second wife, Jeanne-Marie Pascho, and three daughters from his first marriage, Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine.