French far-right firebrand Le Pen passes away at age 96
(MENAFN) Jean-Marie Le Pen, the controversial founder of the French National Front (now National Rally), has passed away at the age of 96 in a care facility, surrounded by family. Le Pen was born in 1928 and worked in various jobs, including as a fisherman, deep-sea miner, and apartment surveyor. He also served in the French Foreign Legion during the Suez Crisis and the Algerian War.
Le Pen began his Political journey in the 1950s and was elected to the French National Assembly twice before founding the National Front in 1972. He ran for the French presidency multiple times, coming in second in 2002 with nearly 18% of the vote. Le Pen also served as a member of the European Parliament for almost two decades.
Known for his far-right views, Le Pen was a staunch anti-immigrant advocate and controversially downplayed the Holocaust, often praising Vichy France's collaborationist leader, Philippe Pétain. In 2011, he passed leadership of the National Front to his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who later expelled him from the party in 2015 due to his extreme remarks about Jews, minorities, and migrants. Despite their differences, Marine Le Pen led a rebranding of the party as the National Rally in 2018. The party remains a significant force in French politics.
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