Dominique Baudis (; 14 April 1947 – 10 April 2014) was the French Defender of Rights (ombudsman). Formerly a journalist, politician and

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 ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, he had been a member of

Liberal Democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

and later of the leading centre-right

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 ...

Biography

Early life

Dominique Baudis was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was educated at

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

where he graduated in 1968. His father,

Pierre Baudis Pierre Baudis, born May 11, 1916, in Decazeville (Aveyron) and died January 5, 1997, in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), was a French politician and mayor of Toulouse from 1971 to 1983. Biography Pierre Baudis was the father of Dominique Baudis (hims ...

, served as the mayor of Toulouse.

Career

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, he was a foreign correspondent for

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

from 1976 to 1977. He was

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

from 1977 to 1980 and from 1980 to 1982 on FR3. A member of the

CDS CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...

(a member of the centre-right UDF, he was elected to replace his father, Pierre Baudis as mayor of Toulouse in the 1983 French municipal elections. In 1984, he was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, in 1986 he became President of the Regional Council of the Midi-Pyrénées, also in 1986 he was elected to the

French National Assembly 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 ...

representing Haute-Garonne's 1st constituency. He won re-election in 1988, 1993 and 1997. He led the UDF- RPR list in the 1994 European election. In 2001,

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 ...

appointed him president of the

Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the (High Authority for Audiovisual Communication) was a measure ...

(CSA), a post which he held until 2007, when Chirac appointed him president of the Arab World Institute. In 2009, the UMP nominated him to lead the UMP list in the South-West for the 2009 European election. His list won 26.89% and he was elected to the

for a third time. For the first time, the Presidential Majority (meaning all the parties gathered around Nicolas Sarkozy) scored four seats in the European Parliament, two more than the Socialist Party, French South-West's leading force. In some urban areas, such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Bayonne and Montpellier, he scored more than 30%. In July 2009, he was elected vice-president of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament and in November 2009 he was named rapporteur on the Association Agreement with

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. Baudis was nominated by the

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 ...

to the new office of Defender of Rights, essentially an ombudsman role, and was appointed by the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

with effect from July 2011.

References

External links

Dominique Baudis' Official Facebook Profile

Website of the Défenseur des Droits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudis, Dominique 1947 births 2014 deaths Deaths from cancer in France Ombudsmen in France Politicians from Paris Mayors of Toulouse MEPs for South-West France 2009–2014 MEPs for France 1984–1989 MEPs for France 1994–1999 Union for a Popular Movement MEPs Union for a Popular Movement politicians Liberal Democracy (France) politicians Lycée Carnot alumni Sciences Po alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour French television journalists French male journalists Lycée Fénelon Sainte-Marie alumni