Gérard Collomb, former Minister of the Interior during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, but also former mayor of Lyon, has died at the age of 76, his entourage announced.
The former mayor of Lyon Gérard Collomb, ex-Minister of the Interior in the first Macron government, “passed away peacefully with his family” on Saturday evening at the age of 76, his wife Caroline Collomb announced to the AFP. Suffering from stomach cancer, “when it became clear that his illness could not be improved by any anti-cancer treatment, he wished to benefit from deep sedation which allowed him to pass away peacefully alongside the hers” around 9 p.m. Saturday, she said in a brief message to AFP.
Gérard Collomb, former Minister of the Interior during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term, but also former mayor of Lyon, has died at the age of 76. (AFP) pic.twitter.com/AgEivho2q0
— Europe 1 (@Europe1) November 25, 2023
His death occurred “during a short period of coma”
His state of health had deteriorated considerably in recent days and he had been taken care of by the oncology department of Lyon Sud hospital. His death occurred “during a short period of coma”, according to his wife. Gérard Collomb was elected to the town hall of Lyon in 2001, left his post to join Place Beauvau in 2017, then failed to keep his position in the 2020 municipal elections. He had disappeared from the local political scene since he had he himself announced his stomach cancer on his X account (formerly Twitter).
Born on June 20, 1947 in Chalon-sur-Saône to a housekeeper mother and a metalworker father, this scholar of classics, fan of Eddy Mitchell, initiated the transformation of Lyon into a modern metropolis during his mandates successive. His death, announced by the LyonMag site in the evening, sparked a flood of reactions and tributes.
“The people of Lyon are orphans and I share their grief”
“He was the worthy successor to Edouard Herriot. The Lyonnais are orphans and I share their grief,” declared the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron on his X account (ex-Twitter). The environmentalist mayor of Lyon Grégory Doucet praised this “transformative and humanist mayor who will have forever marked the history of Lyon”.
Gérard Collomb is dead. He was the worthy successor of Édouard Herriot. The Lyonnais are orphans and I share their grief. pic.twitter.com/QtI6fv5Isp
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 25, 2023
For his part, François Hollande paid tribute to an “activist” who “contributed to the refoundation of the PS” and a man who “was endowed with inexhaustible tenacity, rare courage and keen intelligence.”
Gérard Collomb loved his city of Lyon passionately. First as a parliamentarian, as mayor for nearly 20 years he not only served it with dedication but transformed it with ambition. He wanted to make it a great European metropolis. I accompanied him in… pic.twitter.com/gTJ3M6BBb6
— François Hollande (@fhollande) November 25, 2023