Didier Guillaume (; 11 May 1959 – 17 January 2025) was a French politician who briefly served as minister of state of Monaco from 2024 until his death in 2025. He previously served as the minister of agriculture and food in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of Prime Minister

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 ...

from 2018 to 2020. A member of 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 th ...

until 2018, he was President of the General Council of

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

from 2004 to 2015,

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for Drôme from 2008 to 2018 and president of the Socialist group in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 2014 to 2018.

Political career

Early beginnings

In 2004, after he was elected President of the General Council of

, Guillaume resigned his post as

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 Bourg-de-Péage, which he had held since the 1995 municipal election. The town is the ''chef-lieu'' of the canton of Bourg-de-Péage, represented by Guillaume in the Drôme General Council from 1998 until 2015.

Senator for Drôme (2008–2018)

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Guillaume was elected to the

. He served as First Vice President of the Senate under the leadership of President Jean-Pierre Bel from 2011 to 2014, when he became president of the Socialist group and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, as the right had won a majority at the 2014 election. After leaving the presidency of the Drôme General Council following the victory of The Republicans at the 2015 departmental election, he was succeeded by

Patrick Kanner Patrick Kanner (; born 29 April 1957) is a French politician serving as president of the Socialist and Republican group, Socialist group and Leader of the Opposition in the French Senate, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (France), Senate sin ...

as group president in the Senate in 2018. Guillaume also worked as

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

's campaign director in the Socialist Party's primaries for the 2017 presidential election.

Minister of Agriculture (2018–2020)

Guillaume served as Minister of Agriculture and Food under

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 ...

from 2018 to 2020, succeeding Stéphane Travert. After taking office, he vowed to take his decisions "in independence" from the industry lobbies. Guillaume stated he would run for Mayor of

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

against fellow government member Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, but they both withdrew their candidacies before the election. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Gulliaume called on unemployed citizens to help the country's farmers in their production process as seasonal foreign workers were absent. 50,000 people responded favourably. He was succeeded by

Julien Denormandie Julien Denormandie (born 14 August 1980) is a French engineer and politician of La République En Marche! (LREM) who served as Minister of Agriculture (France), Minister of Agriculture in the Castex government, government of Prime Minister of Fr ...

and retired from politics.

Minister of State of Monaco (2024–2025)

Didier Guillaume was announced as the forthcoming

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

of Monaco on 10 June 2024, to succeed the incumbent Pierre Dartout for a four-year term beginning on 2 September.

Personal life and death

Guillaume was born in

, to a sheep farmer. Guillaume was married to Béatrice Frecenon-Guillaume, whom he wed at Monaco Town Hall on 21 December 2024. Didier Guillaume died in

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 state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

at Monaco Cathedral on 23 January that was attended by both Prince Albert II and French President

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 ...

References

Sources

Page on the Senate website

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaume, Didier 1959 births 2025 deaths People from Bourg-de-Péage Socialist Party (France) politicians Ministers of agriculture of France Vice-presidents of the Senate (France) French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Drôme Mayors of places in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ministers of state of Monaco