Former French Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin has died at the age of 88, his family announced today.
Jospin hailed from a middle-class Protestant family. As a large part of the French political class, Jospin had studied at Sciences Po in Paris before attending the École Nationale d’Administration, France’s elite institution for senior civil servants.
A professor of economics in civilian life, he served as First Secretary of the Socialist Party and held ministerial posts under François Mitterrand before becoming prime minister in 1997, heading a coalition government until 2002 known as the “gauche plurielle,” in a cohabitation arrangement with centre-right President Jacques Chirac.
As prime minister, Jospin cut the working week to 35 hours, extended free healthcare through universal health coverage, and under his premiership, civil unions for same-sex couples were introduced.
He ran for president in 2002 but was eliminated in the first round, after Front National candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen (the father of Marie Le Pen) advanced to the runoff against Chirac. Jospin announced his retirement from politics on election night, later serving on France’s Constitutional Council from 2015 to 2019.
