Danielle and François Mitterrand, a romantic story

Danielle and François Mitterrand had an atypical vision of romantic relationships. Both ended up leading a double life, and this in complete freedom, as told by Michèle Cotta in “Inseparable”. However, their marriage was far from being without love, and at the start of this complex relationship, there is an improbable meeting, worthy of a historical film.

It all starts during the Second World War. François Mitterrand is resistant when he meets a certain Christine Gouze, the one who will later become a great producer, and the wife of Roger Hanin. Christine happens to be Danielle’s older sister. In Christine’s apartment, with other resistance fighters, François Mitterrand spots the face of a young girl in a photo frame, none other than Danielle. “She’s pretty. I’ll marry her,” he exclaims jokingly. But this remark seems like nothing, Christine has noted it well. Later, on the phone with her sister, she announces to her: “You know, I have a fiancé for you.”

But that is without counting on the rebellious character of Danielle Gouze, then a young 18-year-old high school graduate, who has also just joined the Resistance. “Danielle Mitterrand has always had a strong personality,” says Michèle Cotta, who has known her for a long time. The journalist continues: “So at first, she said no. It must be said that Mitterrand was hidden behind a huge mustache, and that he looked, she said, ‘an Argentine tango dancer’.”

François Mitterrand is hunted by the Gestapo, and it is up to Danielle Gouze to play his official fiancée. It must serve as a cover for him to hide in Burgundy. Until the two “actors” end up falling in love with each other for real. They married in 1944.

However, the honeymoon phase will not last long. François Mitterrand, a great seducer, quickly sees his passion for Danielle dull. And in the early 1960s, he met a certain Anne Pingeot…

To listen to the rest of Michèle Cotta’s interview on the life of the Mitterrand couple, listen to “Inseparable”, a podcast produced by Europe 1 Studio available on all platforms.