Danielle Mitterrand
Danielle Mitterrand | |
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File:DanielleMitterrand2005.jpg | |
Born | Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Gouze 29 October 1924 Verdun, Meuse |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Paris, Île-de-France |
Spouse(s) | François Mitterrand (m. 1944; wid. 1996) |
Children | Pascal Mitterrand (1945–1945) Jean-Christophe Mitterrand (b. 1946) Gilbert Mitterrand (b. 1949) |
Danielle Mitterrand (born Danielle Émilienne Isabelle Gouze; 29 October 1924 – 22 November 2011) was the wife of French President François Mitterrand, and president of the foundation France Libertés Fondation Danielle Mitterrand.[1]
Contents
Background
When she was seventeen years old, her family (her parents were teachers) aided the French Resistance and helped lodge men of the Maquis (French Resistance), and she became a liaison officer in the Resistance. She met François Mitterrand there, and married him three months after the Liberation, on 28 October 1944.[1]
She created the France-Libertés Foundation in 1986, when she was First Lady, with the fusion of three smaller associations which had been established in 1981.[1] In 1996 Madame Mitterrand was one of the winners of the North–South Prize.[2]
Danielle Mitterrand had three sons: Pascal (who died in childhood), Jean-Christophe and Gilbert Mitterrand.[1]
Opinions
Mrs. Mitterrand was a longtime supporter of Cuba and its Marxist–Leninist government.[3] However, during Fidel Castro's 1995 visit to France, she also helped secure the release of imprisoned Cuban dissident Yndamiro Restano Díaz, who was reportedly freed at her request.[4][5] She was also a supporter of the ANC and the anti apartheid movement.[6]
She also supported the Sandinistas when her late husband gave them military aid in their war against US-backed forces in Nicaragua.[7] She was very critical with respect to Turkey, opposing its accession to the European Union and supportive of the Kurdistan independence movement.[8] She voiced her views in favour of Sahrawi separatists,[9] Subcomandante Marcos,[10] and the Tibetan people,[11] among others.
As First Lady, she spoke up against human rights violations, including in countries with which the French government was seeking to maintain good relations; she earned the ire both of the Chinese government and of King Hassan II of Morocco, in particular. Her France-Libertés Foundation provided financial support to local human rights initiatives abroad, and also financed access to medicine and education in poor countries.[1]
She supported a "no" vote in the 2005 French referendum on the European Constitution: "I denounce the power of the economy over people, a system that turns individuals into elements in an economic equation, does not respect the poor and excludes everyone that does not live up to the principle of profitability." [12]
Works
- These men are first our brothers (Ces hommes sont avant tout nos frères), Ramsay, 1996, on the Indians of Chiapas
- Torture in Tunisia: Committee for freedom and human rights in Tunisia (La torture en Tunisie : Comité pour le respect des libertés et des droits de l’homme en Tunisie), Le temps des cerises, 2000
Honours
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The French International School MLF Danielle Mitterrand in Iraqi Kurdistan is named after her.[13]
Foreign honours
- Netherlands : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (1991)[14]
- Sweden : Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star (11 May 1984)[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Danielle Mitterrand, les combats d'une militante", Le Monde, 22 November 2011
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- ↑ MANDELA, Nelson, "The Long Walk To Freedom", 1994, page 523.
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- ↑ Francois Mitterrand's Widow Says, "I Will Vote No" Spiegel-Interview with Danielle Mitterrand, 05/23/2005
- ↑ "Consul Generals discuss developments and initiatives in Kurdistan" (Archive). Kurdistan Regional Government Department of Foreign Relations. Thursday March 15, 2012. Retrieved on April 27, 2015.
- ↑ Volks krant, State visit of Netherlands in France (Mitterrand), 1991, Group Photo
- ↑ Photo of the state in Sweden, Danielle Mitterrand : Polar Star
External links
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- Articles with dead external links from September 2010
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Incomplete lists from June 2012
- 1924 births
- 2011 deaths
- Female resistance members of World War II
- French Resistance members
- Tibet freedom activists
- People from Verdun
- Spouses of French presidents
- International opponents of apartheid in South Africa
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Netherlands)
- Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star