Biography of Francois Mitterrand
                     FRANCOSIitS Dol or Amet
MITTERRAND: 
LEGACY AND 
CONTROVERSIES
INTRODUCTION
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand 
(October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996) 
was President of France from 1981 to 
1995, and was best known for leading 
France toward economic and political 
integration with western Europe. 
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ELECTION
He was elected as representative of the 
Socialist Party (PS). 
First elected during the May 1981 
presidential election, he became the first 
socialist president of the Fifth Republic 
and the first left-wing head of 
government since 1957. 
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AS PRESIDENT
As President, Mitterand moved away 
from socialist policies, towards a more 
centrist position. 
He was a strong supporter of European 
integration and did not want Germany to 
dominate Europe's future, and thought 
the best strategy to avoid this was for 
France and Germany to devolve 
functions to European institutions, such 
as having a common currency and 
foreign policy for the European Union.
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POLITICS
On the latter, he departed more radically 
from the Gaullist position of an 
independent French policy, and did not 
share their ambivalence towards Europe.
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FAMILY
François Mitterrand was born in Jarnac, 
Charente, in a Catholic and conservative 
family. 
His father, Gilbert Félix Joseph, was 
agent of a railroad company, then 
vinegar maker, and later President of the 
federation of vinegar maker trade-
unions, whose maternal grandmother 
was a noblewoman, descendant of Kings 
Fernando III of Castile and Jean de 
Brienne of Jerusalem. 
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EDUCATION
Mitterrand studied from 1925 to 1934, in 
Angoulême, where he became member 
of the JEC, the student organization of 
Action catholique. Arriving in Paris in 
autumn 1934, he then went to the Ecole 
libre des sciences politiques until 1937. 
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EARLY CAREER
Finishing his law studies, he was sent to 
the Maginot line in September 1939, 
with the rank of Sergeant-chief (infantry 
sergeant), near Montmédy. 
He became engaged to Marie-Louise 
Terrasse (future Catherine Langeais) in 
May 1940 (but she broke it off in January 
1942).
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SECOND 
WORLD WAR
Mitterrand enlisted in the French army 
during World War II. 
He fought as an infantry sergeant, was 
wounded and taken as a prisoner of war 
(POW) in 1940. 
His political views evolved as he met 
POWs from all kinds of social 
backgrounds.
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FOURTH 
REPUBLIC
After the war, Mitterrand quickly moved 
back into politics. In 1946, he was 
elected as a Deputy for the Nièvre 
département and in 1947, joined a 
centerist grouping, the Democratic and 
Socialist Union of the Resistance (Union 
démocratique et socialiste de la 
Résistance, or UDSR). 
He held various offices in the Fourth 
Republic as a Deputy and as a Minister. 
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1965 
PRESIDENTIAL 
ELECTION 
In 1965, he was the first left-wing 
politician who saw a presidential election 
by universal suffrage as a way to defeat 
the opposition leadership. 
Not a member of any specific political 
party, his candidacy for presidency was 
accepted by all left-wing parties (SFIO, 
PCF, PR, PSU).
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