Jean-Marc Ayrault (; born 25 January 1950) is a French politician who served as

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

from 15 May 2012 to 31 March 2014. He later was

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

from 2016 to 2017. He previously was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

from 1989 to 2012 and led the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

group in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

from 1997 to 2012.

Early life

Born in Maulévrier in

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et ...

, Jean-Marc Ayrault is the son of Joseph Ayrault, from Maulévrier, formerly an agricultural worker who was subsequently employed in a textile factory, and of Georgette Uzenot, a former seamstress who later became a full-time housewife. His early schooling was at the St Joseph Catholic primary school in Maulévrier, after which, between 1961 and 1968, he attended the Lycée Colbert, in Cholet. He subsequently studied

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

at the

University of Nantes The University of Nantes (french: Université de Nantes) is a public university located in the city of Nantes, France. In addition to the several campuses scattered in the city of Nantes, there are two satellite campuses located in Saint-Nazair ...

. In 1969/70 he spent a term at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

in Bavaria. He graduated with a degree in German in 1971 and in 1972 obtained his graduate teaching diploma. He stayed in the Nantes area for his probationary teaching year which was undertaken in

Rezé Rezé (; br, Reudied, Gallo: ''Rezae'') is a commune (municipality) and former bishopric in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region of western France. It is a southern suburb of Nantes. It was also called ''Ratiate'' in ...

. Between 1973 and his election to the National Assembly in 1986 he worked as a German language teacher in nearby

Saint-Herblain Saint-Herblain (; br, Sant-Ervlan, ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, administrative region of Pays de la Loire (Brittany as historical region), France. It is the largest suburb of the city of Nantes, and lies adjacent to its we ...

Political career

During his youth, Ayrault was a member of a movement of young Christians in rural areas. He joined the

(PS) after the 1971

Epinay Congress The Epinay Congress was the third national congress of the French Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), which took place on 11, 12 and 13 June 1971, in the town of Épinay-sur-Seine, in the northern suburbs of Paris. During this congress, ...

during which

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

took the party leadership. Ayrault was affiliated to

Jean Poperen Jean Poperen (9 January 1925 in Angers – 23 August 1997) was a French politician. Poperen joined the Communist Party (PCF) at 18, and was also a member of the Union of Communist Students. He left the PCF after the Hungarian Revolution of 195 ...

's faction, one of the left-wing groups in the party. Elected in 1976 to the General Council of

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population ...

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'', he subsequently became

, located in the western suburbs of

, in 1977. At 27, he was the youngest mayor of a French city of more than 30,000 inhabitants. He left the General Council in 1982. He reached the PS national committee in 1979, then the executive of the party in 1981. He was first elected to the National Assembly in 1986, as representative of Loire Atlantique ''department'', and he was consistently re-elected in subsequent elections. In 1989, he was chosen by the PS to conquer the mayoralty of Nantes, held by the

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...

(RPR) party, and he won. Re-elected in 1995, 2001 and 2008, he was also president of the Urban Community of Nantes Métropole since 2002. He was an important "local baron" of the Socialist Party. After the surprising victory of the "

Plural Left The Gauche Plurielle (French for ''Plural Left'') was a left-wing coalition in France, composed of the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS), the French Communist Party (''Parti communiste français'' or PCF), the Greens, the Left Rad ...

" in the 1997 legislative election, he was not appointed to the government but was instead designated as President of the Socialist parliamentary group in the National Assembly, a position he held for the next 15 years. Ayrault was a supporter of

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of the Socialist P ...

during the Socialist Party's 2011 primary election to choose its presidential candidate. Hollande was ultimately elected President in the 2012 presidential election, and he appointed Ayrault as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

when he took office on 15 May 2012.

Prime Minister

Following

's victory in the 2012 presidential election, Ayrault was appointed

replacing François Fillon. The following day, Ayrault unveiled his

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. In response to the Greek government-debt crisis he asked the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

to put unused structural funds towards helping the Greek economy return to growth and said "We waited too long before helping Greece. This has been going on for two years now and only gets worse..." During his time in office, same-sex marriage was also legalized. Ayrault's appointment to the country's

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

prompted discussion within Arabic language mass media as to how to pronounce his surname. When his name is pronounced properly in French, it sounds "very much like a moderately rude Lebanese langterm" for a

phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precise ...

Al-Arabiya Arabiya ( ar, العربية, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC. The channel is a fl ...

decided to pronounce the name properly and write its Arabic

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

"in a way that makes clear it is not the offensive word";

CNN Arabic CNN Arabic ( ar, سي إن إن بالعربية) is a news website located in Dubai launched on 19 January 2002. Part of the CNN network, it provides international news in the Arabic language, with continuous updates on regional and internati ...

decided to pronounce Ayrault's surname by "voicing the last two letters in the written word." During his time in office, Ayrault and his ministers introduced a raft of progressive measures, including a reduction in the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some categories of workers, cuts in ministerial salaries of up to 30%, a rise in the minimum wage, the introduction of a 36-month rent freeze on new contracts in some urban areas, an extension of social rebates on energy, increased educational support for low-income families, the introduction of a system of subsidised employment for young people between 16 and 25, and the extension of an entitlement to free health care to an additional 500,000 people. Ayrault resigned on 31 March 2014, the day after the "Socialists suffered heavy losses in nationwide municipal elections", and formally handed over to his successor Manuel Valls at the prime ministerial residence, the Hotel Matignon, on 1 April 2014.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

As part of a 2016 cabinet reshuffle, Hollande appointed Ayrault as foreign minister, replacing Laurent Fabius. Under Ayrault's leadership, the French foreign ministry summoned Vincent Mertens de Wilmars, Belgium's ambassador in Paris, in September 2016 after detaining two Belgian police officers on French territory for allegedly depositing migrants across the countries' border. In September 2016, Ayrault took part in the formal signing ceremony for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, a controversial $24-billion Franco-Chinese investment project.

Personal life

When President Hollande published a list of bank deposits and property held by all 38 ministers for first time 2012, Ayrault declared personal assets worth 1.5 million euros.

Political resume

French Government *Prime Minister: 2012–2014. *Minister of Foreign Affairs: 2016–2017 National Assembly *President of the Socialist Group in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

: 1997–2012. Re-elected in 2002 and 2007. *Member of the National Assembly of France for

(3rd constituency): 1986–2012 (appointed Prime Minister in 2012). Elected in 1986, re-elected in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012. General council *General councillor of

, elected in the canton of Saint-Herbain-Est: 1976–1982. Community Council *Président of the Urban Community of

Nantes Métropole The Nantes Metropolis (french: Nantes Métropole) is the ''métropole'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Nantes. It is located in the Loire-Atlantique department, in the Pays de la Loire region, western France. It was created ...

: 1992–2012 (Resignation). Re-elected in 1995, 2001, and 2008. *Member of the Urban Community Council of

: since 1992. Re-elected in 1995, 2001, and 2008. Municipal Council *

: 1977–1989. Re-elected in 1983. *Municipal councillor of

: 1977–1989. Re-elected in 1983. *

: 1989–2012 (Resignation). Re-elected in 1995, 2001, and 2008. *Municipal councillor of

: Since 1989. Re-elected in 1995, 2001 and 2008.

Honours

National honour

* : Commandeur of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

(14 July 2019) * : Grand Cross of the Order of National Merit (28 November 2012)

Foreign honours

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

(19 November 2012)Italian Presidency website
Sig. Jean-Marc Ayrault
(Primo Ministro) – Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana * : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (3 November 2017) *

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Knights of Rizal

References

External links

Personal profile on the French National Assembly's website

Biography on his personal website
* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayrault, Jean-Marc 1950 births Living people French agnostics French Foreign Ministers Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur Grand Cross of the Ordre national du Mérite Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Mayors of Nantes People from Maine-et-Loire Politicians from Pays de la Loire Prime Ministers of France Socialist Party (France) politicians University of Nantes alumni Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic