Christine Albanel (born 25 June 1955) is a French politician and civil servant. From May 2007 to June 2009, she was France's Minister for Culture and Communication in

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

's government.

Early career

Albanel is agrégé in classical Letters. In 1982, she joined the administration of the city of Paris, and followed

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to ...

– working in his cabinet – when he became Prime Minister in 1986 and French President in 1995. In 2000, she became '' Conseiller d'État''. She became president of the museum and domain administration of the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

in 2003.

Minister of Culture

In 2007, Albanel was appointed Minister of Culture in François Fillon's government. During her time in office, Albanel proposed a new law (the

HADOPI law The French HADOPI law or Creation and Internet law (french: Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des droits d'auteur sur Internet, ; or, loosely in English, "Supreme Authority for the Distribution of Works and Protection o ...

) with the objective to reduce music and video piracy over the Internet, along the same 'graduated penalty' lines of thinking that previous ineffective '

DADVSI Loi DADVSI (generally pronounced as ''dadsi'') is the abbreviation of the French ''Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l’information'' (in English: "law on authors' rights and related rights in the infor ...

' law. This move generated huge debate as several Presumption of innocence key liberty and law principles were sacrificed for the sake of efficiency, while most experts in Internet technology said the attempt was anyway doomed as grossly underestimating the complexity of any reliable control system. As of 10 June 2009, the HADOPI law was struck down by the

Constitutional Council of France The Constitutional Council (french: Conseil constitutionnel; ) is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules ...

. In 2008, Sarkozy ordered Albanel to test free admission in certain museums for six months. Also in 2008, Albanel launched a campaign to revive the country’s art market through a battery of fiscal and financial incentives. Lastly, Albanel is credited as a driving force behind the 2008 exhibition “Looking for Owners: Custody, Research and Restitution of Art Stolen in France During World War II” at the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

in Jerusalem.

Life after politics

After leaving government, Albanel was appointed Executive Vice-President of multi-national telecommunications corporation Orange. Under the leadership of Anne Levade, Albanel was part of the organizing committee of the Republicans’ first-ever

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

to select the party’s candidate for the 2017 presidential election.

Controversy

In early 2009, Albanel received an anonymous death threat accompanied by a 9mm-calibre bullet.Lizzy Davies (3 March 2009)
Five French rightwing politicians receive death threats
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''.

References

External links

Biography

Quotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albanel, Christine 1955 births Living people Politicians from Toulouse French Ministers of Culture Union for a Popular Movement politicians Government spokespersons of France Women government ministers of France Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 21st-century French women politicians 21st-century French politicians 20th-century French civil servants 21st-century French civil servants 20th-century French women