26.42°C Vancouver

Jan 7, 2025 5:16 PM - The Canadian Press

Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right leader, dies at 96

Share On
jean-marie-le-pen-french-far-right-leader-dies-at-96
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally as the party is now known, confirmed Le Pen’s death in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.(Photo: The Canadian Press)

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front who was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation, has died. He was 96.

Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally as the party is now known, confirmed Le Pen’s death in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday.

A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen's controversial statements, including Holocaust denial, led to multiple convictions and strained his political alliances.

Le Pen, who once reached the second round of the 2002 presidential election, was eventually estranged from his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who renamed his National Front party, kicked him out and transformed it into one of France’s most powerful political forces while distancing herself from her father’s extremist image

Despite his exclusion from the party in 2015, Le Pen’s divisive legacy endures, marking decades of French political history and shaping the trajectory of the far right.

His death came at a crucial time for his daughter. She now faces a potential prison term and a ban on running for political office if convicted in the embezzling trial currently underway.

A fixture for decades in French politics, the fiery Jean-Marie Le Pen was a wily political strategist and gifted orator who used his charisma to captivate crowds with his anti-immigration message.

The portly, silver-haired son of a Breton fisherman viewed himself as a man with a mission — to keep France French under the banner of the National Front. Picking Joan of Arc as the party’s patron saint, Le Pen made Islam, and Muslim immigrants, his primary target, blaming them for the economic and social woes of France.

A former paratrooper and Foreign Legionnaire who fought in Indochina and Algeria, he led sympathizers into political and ideological battles with a panache that became a signature of his career.

“If I advance, follow me; if I die, avenge me; if I shirk, kill me,” Le Pen said at a 1990 party congress, reflecting the theatrical style that for decades fed the fervor of followers.

Le Pen had recently been exempted from prosecution on health grounds from a high-profile trial over his party’s suspected embezzlement of European Parliament funds that opened in September. Le Pen had 11 prior convictions, including for violence against a public official and antisemitic hate speech.

French judicial authorities placed Le Pen under legal guardianship in February at the request of his family as his health declined, French media reported. He had been in frail health for some time.

Latest news

CanadaJun 30, 2025

Large fire consumes Surrey, B.C., e-bike store, requires 36 firefighters

Dozens of firefighters in Surrey, B.C., spent hours fighting a large blaze at a store selling e-bikes, where smoke was so thick that crews had to battle the flames from outside. Mike McNamara, assistant chief of operations with the Surrey Fire Department, says its part of a growing number of difficult-to-extinguish fires that erupt when e-bike batteries burn. McNamara says 36 firefighters and 12 trucks spent six hours Saturday night fighting the fire that destroyed the business and appears to have damaged others nearby. He says crews were initially able to enter the building but th
alberta-byelection-called-for-aug-18-giving-poilievre-path-to-house
AlbertaJun 30, 2025

Alberta byelection called for Aug. 18, giving Poilievre path to House

Prime Minister Mark Carney has called a byelection for the riding of Battle River — Crowfoot in Alberta for Aug. 18. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is expected to run in the riding after losing his Ottawa-area seat in the April to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy. Former Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned the seat earlier this month to clear the way for Poilievre to run after winning the seat with 82 per cent of the vote.
CanadaJun 30, 2025

Teen arrested after unprovoked machete attack

A 15-year-old boy in Winnipeg is accused of attacking a 68-year-old man with a machete. Police say the assault on Friday night was random and happened while the man was walking past a Salvation Army on Henry Avenue. He was taken to hospital and police say he will require surgery. They say witnesses detained the boy until police arrived, and that officers recovered two machetes during the arrest.
alberta-judge-grants-injunction-blocking-a-transgender-health-care-bill
AlbertaJun 30, 2025

Alberta judge grants injunction blocking a transgender health-care bill

An Alberta judge has put on hold a provincial law that bans doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth. Justice Allison Kuntz, in a written judgment, has issued a temporary injunction against the law, saying it raises serious issues that need to be hashed out in court. Kuntz says a temporary stop to the law is needed to prevent what she calls ``irreparable harm'' coming to young patients while the issue is debated. The law, passed late last year but not fully in effect, would have prevented doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to th
b-c-minister-bowinn-ma-tells-of-frightening-incident-at-her-constituency-office
BCJun 27, 2025

B.C. minister Bowinn Ma tells of 'frightening' incident at her constituency office

British Columbia's Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma says there was a "frightening" security incident at her constituency office in North Vancouver early Friday. Ma says in a statement that all meetings and appointments at the office have been cancelled for the day. Her statement says that thankfully, nobody was injured, and she appreciates the concern expressed by community members. Ma doesn't describe the incident and says due to an active police investigation, she won't be able to provide more details about what happened. She says she wants to thank the officers who responded to the inciden

Related News