Arthur de Laborde / Photo credits: BERTRAND LANGLOIS / AFP
Writer, director, man of cinema, radio and television… Frédéric Mitterrand, who died Thursday at the age of 76, was also Minister of Culture under Nicolas Sarkozy from 2009 to 2012. The nephew of the former president of the Republic was a politician who was difficult to classify.
Former Minister of Culture and television man Frédéric Mitterrand died Thursday in Paris at the age of 76, after a battle of “several months against aggressive cancer”, his family announced to AFP. Nephew of former president François Mitterrand, minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, this unclassifiable personality, a great film buff, announced in April 2023 that he was “sick”, without saying more.
He enters the government under a right-wing president
With a name admired on the left, Frédéric Mitterrand entered the government under a right-wing president. In June 2009, by himself confirming his appointment, he responded on France 2 to those who were surprised to see a Mitterrand minister under Nicolas Sarkozy. “Sarkozy was indeed a minister during Mitterrand’s time. [Cela représente pour moi] an exciting task and an honor.
When the journalist questions him about his political orientation, “there are a lot of people on the left who will say they are another one who passes to the other side, they will ask themselves is Frédéric Mitterrand on the left?” he replies: “I’ll leave it to them to answer the question.”
Some controversies
At the Ministry of Culture, Frédéric Mitterrand quickly followed up with controversies, for example defending the filmmaker Roman Polanski, prosecuted for rape. Marine Le Pen will also accuse him of pedophilia by exhuming extracts from one of his books. Despite everything, Frédéric Mitterrand held the position for almost three years. Almost record longevity on rue de Valois. From its passage, what remains in particular is the Hadopi II law promoting the dissemination and protection of creation on the Internet.