On November 23, Stéphane Séjourné accepted that Release paint his portrait. The man who was appointed Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on January 11 is a discreet politician, and for good reason. If the former companion of Gabriel Attal is not often in the spotlight, it is because he has suffered from a disability since he was very young. As our colleagues reported, the secretary general of Renaissance was a dyslexic child which has always been “uncomfortable with speaking“.
Moreover, his very first press conference was a real test for him. This dates back to March 2019, when he was to present the Renaissance list. Stéphane Séjourné then came up against several names. In any case it seems more comfortable when he has to express himself in Spanish. Born into a middle-class family of Béarnaise origins, the 38-year-old politician is the son of a Telecoms engineer and a switchboard operator. The patriarch had, during his childhood, a job offer in Mexico. The whole family therefore packed their bags there, abandoning their pavilion in Yvelines. Afterwards, the father obtained two transfers, to Madrid then to Buenos Aires, bringing his family with him.
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A politician who prefers to speak in Spanish?
Stéphane Séjourné therefore spent all his schooling, up to the baccalaureate, in Hispanic countries allowing him to master the Spanish language. In Brussels, the former president of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament had no problem expressing himself other than in French, during interviews or meetings. And it was in these scenarios that he certainly seemed most at home. As for his university studies, he spent them in Poitiers, to learn law. The young man then took his first steps in politics within the Socialist Party, until October 2014, when he became Emmanuel Macron’s ministerial advisor.
Article written with the collaboration of 6Medias
Photo credits: Stephane Lemouton / Bestimage