Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionThe Republicans, which he left in 2021 to join Horizons.

Early life

Estrosi was born on 1 July 1955 in Nice.National Assembly webpage
/ref> His grandparents were immigrants from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.

Motorcycle racing

Estrosi was a professional

motorcycle racer The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

and competed at the world championship level in

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

from

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

to

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He won the French round of the 1976 Formula 750 season at the Circuit Paul Armagnac. He also had a fourth-place finish in the 1978 500cc French Grand Prix. He repeated this result in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

with a fourth place at the 1979 250cc Spanish Grand Prix. He received the Youth and Sports gold medal.

Political career

Early beginnings

Estrosi was a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Nice from 1983 to 1990, when he resigned.

Career in national politics

Estrosi served as a member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

for the 5th constituency of

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

from 1988 to

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, then from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

to 2005, from 2008 to 2009, then from 2010 to 2016. In 1993, he briefly served as the MP for the department's 2nd constituency but his election was ruled invalid. In Parliament, he served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs (1998–1993, 1996–2002), the Committee on Finance (2012–2016) and the Committee on Legal Affairs (2002–2005, 2008–2012). In addition, Estrosi held several ministerial positions in the national government in Paris. He was appointed on 2 June 2005 as Deputy Minister of Spatial Planning in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

, serving under

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

. He was then appointed on 19 June 2007 as Secretary of State for the Overseas French territories (DOM-TOM), this time serving under

Michèle Alliot-Marie Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (; born 10 September 1946), known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the The Republicans (France), Rep ...

. From 2009 to 2010, he served as Deputy Minister of Industry. During his time in office, he was widely seen as a close ally of Sarkozy.

Career in municipal politics

Estrosi was a regional councillor of

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

from 1992 to 2002 and served as a regional council vice president from 1992 to 1998 under the presidency of Jean-Claude Gaudin. He later served as one of the vice presidents of the General Council of

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

from 2001 to 2003 and as its president from 2003 to 2008. He was first elected a general councillor in the canton of Nice-8 in 1985. Estrosi was reelected to the municipal council of Nice in the 2008 election, when he was also elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

of Nice. In addition, he has served as president of the

Urban community of Nice Côte d'Azur The Urban community of Nice Côte d'Azur (French language, French: ''Urban communities in France, communauté urbaine Nice Côte d'Azur''), is the former Communes in France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure gathering the Commune in France ...

from 2008 and president of

Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur The Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur () is the ''métropole'', an Communes of France#Intercommunality, intercommunal structure, centred on the Communes of France, city of Nice. It is located in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department, i ...

from 2012 to 2024. In 2013, he rejected a plan to build a mosque funded by a businessman from Saudi Arabia in Nice. As part of a reorganization of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

(later Republicans) leadership under their chairman Jean-François Copé in January 2013, Estrosi became – alongside Henri de Raincourt, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Brice Hortefeux, Roger Karoutchi and Gérard Longuet – one of the party's six vice-presidents. Ahead of the UMP's leadership election in 2014, he led a group supporting

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

as the party's leader. In The Republicans' 2016 primary, Estrosi also endorsed Sarkozy as the party's candidate for the 2017 presidential election. Ten months ahead of the election, he and other local conservatives aggressively criticised

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Bernard Cazeneuve for the lack of strength of the National Police force presence on the night the 2016 Nice truck attack. Amid the Fillon affair, in March 2017, Estrosi joined

Xavier Bertrand Xavier René Louis Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician; he is president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to 2007 ...

,

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Anne Émilie Pécresse (; Birth name, née Roux ; 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has been the President of the Regional Council (France), President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republic ...

and others in calling for

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

to replace

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired 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 ...

as the party's candidate. Also, he met with

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

during his campaign.Marc Leras and Dominique Vidalon (1 April 2017)
Macron throws electoral net wide, meeting Sarkozy's man in the south
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. On 8 May 2017, the day after the second round of the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, Estrosi announced his resignation from the presidency of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to become Mayor of Nice again, succeeding his former first deputy, Philippe Pradal. Estrosi is still managing the region as one of Regional Council President Renaud Muselier's vice presidents. Overseeing the local authorities' response to the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. T ...

, Estrosi called in early 2021 for a weekend lockdown in the area to reduce the flow of tourists; at the time, Nice had a level of COVID-19 infections triple the national rate. In 2021, Estrosi left The Republicans to join

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 202 ...

's Horizons party, after

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Mayor Hubert Falco. Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Council President Renaud Muselier also left The Republicans that year, marking a loss of elected officials in the area for the party. ''

L'Obs (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines a ...

'' nicknamed the three politicians the "infernal trio of the Provençal right".

Other activities

* Chorégies d'Orange, Member of the Board of Directors

Political positions

Estrosi was among conservative politicians in France who backed calls for a ban on the body-covering

burkini A burkini (or burqini; portmanteau of burqa and bikini, though qualifying as neither of these garments) is a style of swimsuit for women. The suit covers the whole body except the face, the hands, and the feet, while being light enough for swimm ...

swimsuit that some Muslim women wear on the beach, which was later invalidated by French courts. In 2016, he threatened to sue people who distributed photographs of an incident in which Nice police ordered a Muslim woman to remove her burkini, saying that circulating the photographs would "provoke defamatory remarks and threats against police agents". In 2017, Estrosi distanced himself from his earlier decision to vote in favour of an unsuccessful 1988 bill on the reinstatement of the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

.

Recognition

Estrosi is the recipient of a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

in Israel. He is a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

from the French Republic, an Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

, and a Commander of the

Order of Saint-Charles The Order of Saint Charles (; Monégasque: ''U̍rdine de San Carlu'') is a dynastic order of knighthood established in Monaco on 15 March 1858. Award This order rewards service to the State or Prince. In particular cases, it may be grante ...

from

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

.

Controversy

In 2017, Estrosi filed a

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

suit against

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

for accusing him of being in league with Islamist militants; as a consequence, the European Parliament lifted Le Pen's

immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...

.

Personal life

Estrosi was married to Dominique Sassone, daughter of Jean Sassone (1931–2006), who served as Deputy Mayor of Nice from 1977 to 1998.Dominique Estrosi Sassone: Official biography
Olivier Bertrand
Nice : l’ex-femme d’Estrosi contre l’ex-maire
''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'', 14 March 2011. Early on during the

COVID-19 pandemic in France The COVID-19 pandemic in France has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. T ...

, Estrosi tested positive for the

SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...

virus.Eric Gaillard and Sudip Kar-Gupta (20 March 2020)
France's Nice city to close Promenade des Anglais over coronavirus
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''.

References

· {{DEFAULTSORT:Estrosi, Christian 1955 births Living people 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Knights of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Saint-Charles Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic 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 Presidents of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Members of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French motorcycle racers French sportsperson-politicians French people of Italian descent Mayors of Nice Sportspeople from Nice Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Horizons (political party) politicians French city councillors Presidents of French departments Government ministers of France Secretaries of State of France 20th-century French politicians French sportspeople of Italian descent