Bringing together the destinies of President Emmanuel Macron and writer Edouard Louis was, at first glance, not obvious. Yet there are many similarities between these two men, aged 43 and 28 respectively today … starting with their childhood in Picardy, between Amiens and Vimeu, only a few years apart. By telling their Two French youths, Hervé Algalarrondo finds a common goal for them: "Tear themselves away from their city, their childhoods, their families" for “Flee to the capital” with a view to "fulfill their personal destiny and make a name for themselves. ” For his book, published on January 20, 2021 by Grasset and that Current wife could read, the journalist traveled through Picardy, which he knows well from his personal background. Hervé Algalarrondo notably found the former teachers of Emmanuel and Edouard, “Very close or old friends” to learn more about these two extraordinary personalities. Alain Brard, former teacher to the Head of State, thus agreed to share a few anecdotes about his former student and spoke of the special relationship that Emmanuel Macron had with his adored grandmother, nicknamed Manette.
Joystick, a very special preceptor
"After his very slight delay in learning to read, Emmanuel will, on the contrary, excel throughout his schooling in Picardy", notes Hervé Algalarrondo. “For that an essential reason […] Ithere he, a private tutor permanently available, Controller [his darling grandmother, editor's note], still and always. Alain Brard 'was lucky', that's how he put it some thirty years later, to have Emmanuel as a pupil at the primary school in rue Delpech and he remembers it very well [.. .] Alain Brard liked to glue the pupils, who had to find the answers at home: ‘When he came back, he always had them all. He said, I did this with my grandmother. She was the culture bath. ’ Alain Brard called Emmanuel "my little encyclopedia": "He read a lot, brought books to class, everything interested him. His culture was significantly above average. In French he was excellent, the texts he wrote were very rich. "" His weakness? Mathematics. Finally, everything is relative, since the future President collected “Weak” 18/20 in this subject … Despite his high level, Emmanuel Macron, who would have learned to read “At five years”, never jumped to class. Alain Brard adds: “It didn’t surprise me that he became President. And I do not have not surprised more by his relationship with Brigitte. After class he always had a question, he was talking almost on an equal footing with me. But with respect. ”
"This immediately fusing relationship caused tensions with the parents"
In his book, Hervé Algalarrondo returns on several occasions to Manette – whose real name is Germaine Noguès -, a central figure in the construction of Emmanuel Macron. "Emmanuel favored his maternal grandmother from the start", writes the author. “'Manu', as part of his family called him then, placed 'Joystick' on a pedestal.” As the journalist reports, Manette, a former History-Geography teacher and school principal, was also his godmother when he decided, at the age of eleven, to be baptized. This "Straightforward relationship" between Manu and Manette has also "Caused tension with the parents, mainly with the father who was annoyed at having to struggle sometimes to get Emmanuel back." When he died, Emmanuel Macron only asked for one thing when “His family dispersed his property” : books. "Manette's books are now in the large villa he shares with Brigitte in Le Touquet", we learn. Works that Germaine Noguès cherished more than anything: “According to several witnesses, Manette lived her retreat cloistered at home, in the middle of books.” To a local newspaper, Jean-Michel Macron, father of the President, confided: “Emmanuel was his porthole to the world.” In the campaign book he published before his election, Revolution, Emmanuel Macron speaks at length about his grandmother, as Hervé Algalarrondo recalls. “His book is indicative of Manette's place in his life. Several pages are devoted to him while his parents are only entitled to short developments ", he sums up. “Only Brigitte enjoys the same preferential treatment.”
Read also : Brigitte Macron: this secret object of Emmanuel Macron that she hides in a drawer