Former mayor of Marseille Jean-Claude Gaudin died at the age of 84

Jean-Claude Gaudin, a long-time figure in right-wing politics and former mayor of Marseille, the second largest city in France which he represented and led for 25 years, has died at the age of 84. An announcement to which Emmanuel Macron quickly reacted on this child from Mazargues had risen to the highest positions in the Republic which he served, I am thinking of his loved ones and the people of Marseille,” wrote the President of the Republic on the social network.

Jean-Claude Gaudin is no more. He was Marseille made man. From his city, his passion, he had the accent, the fever, the fraternity. For her, this child from Mazargues had risen to the highest positions in the Republic which he served. I think of his loved ones and the people of Marseille.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 20, 2024

A source close to the former mayor, who most often resided in his Var residence of Saint-Zacharie, confirmed the death to AFP, without specifying the circumstances. Former senator, deputy and minister of regional planning, the city and integration under Jacques Chirac between 1995 and 1997, Jean-Claude Gaudin was mainly mayor of the Republicans of Marseille, where he was born, for 25 years from 1995 to 2020.

If he embodied the city, his last years in office were criticized for their “immobility” by his adversaries, and even certain allies, and marked by the tragedy of rue d’Aubagne, November 5, 2018. Two unsanitary buildings of a popular neighborhood in the center – including one owned by the City – are collapsing. Eight people died buried.

The shock wave reveals the extent of substandard housing in a city where 40,000 people live in slums. The associations accuse the town hall of having ignored the alerts. In the process, thousands of people were evacuated from homes declared to be in “imminent danger”.

Political reactions from all sides

The president of LR Eric Ciotti immediately paid tribute to him on X, saluting a man who “loved Marseille more than anything”. “I loved his cheekiness. I admired his courage. I listened to his advice. I am proud to have worked alongside him. My pain is immense, I am losing a friend,” he added.

“Jean-Claude Gaudin was the voice and face of Marseille. He was for decades passionately political, a good-natured and colorful mix of Christian democracy and liberalism,” MoDem president François Bayrou reacted on X.

The current various left-wing mayor, Benoît Payan, who did not spare his criticism in the opposition and often claimed to have recovered with his teams a city in a “lamentable” state, paid tribute to him on X: “Jean-Claude Gaudin seemed unsinkable. His departure saddens me greatly. To the one who loved Marseille, its history and its people so much, I want to pay a moving and sincere tribute to this city.