Jean-Marie Le Pen, former leader of France's National Front party, has died

Former leader of the National Front party, French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen died at the age of 96. This was reported by the newspaper Le Figaro on January 7.

It is noted that Le Pen died surrounded by loved ones after several weeks spent in a medical center in the city of Garsh near Paris. The state of health of the politician has deteriorated sharply in recent years.

Jean-Marie Le Pen was born in 1928 in a small village in the province of Brittany. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Faculty of Law in Paris, and then served in the Foreign Legion in Indochina and the Suez Canal. In 1956, he became a member of the French Parliament, and in 1956-1957 participated in the Suez operation and the fighting in Algeria.

Le Pen became the leader of the "National Front" at the moment of its foundation in 1972, participated in presidential elections in 1974, 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007, and in 2002 went to the second round. The main ideas of his electoral program politician, who held right-wing views, made the termination of European integration of France and reducing the flow of migrants.

In January 2011, Le Pen left the post of chairman of the "National Front", and the post was taken by his daughter Marin. Later, the politician participated in the activities of other right-wing parties, whose programs are similar to the "Popular Front". In addition to his daughter Marin, Le Pen's granddaughter Marion Maréchal, who became a member of the French Parliament in 2012 at the age of 22, is also involved in politics.