François Autain (16 June 1935 – 21 December 2019) was a French politician. Over his career, he was a member of the

Communist, Republican, and Citizen Group The Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group () is a parliamentary group in the Senate (France), French Senate, the indirectly elected upper house of the French Parliament. Unlike most other parliamentary groups in the Senate, it counts ...

and a member of the Left Party, prior to which he was a member of the

Citizen and Republican Movement The Citizen and Republican Movement ( French: ''Mouvement républicain et citoyen'') is a left-wing political party in France. The party replaced the Citizens' Movement (''Mouvement des citoyens'', MDC) in 2002. The previous party was founded b ...

but also the PS and the PSU. He was a member of the

Senate of France The Senate (, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' and ...

, representing the

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. ...

department from 1983 to 2011 and a deputy 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 repr ...

from 1978 to 1981. From 1981 to 1983, he served as a secretary of state in the governments of

Pierre Mauroy Pierre Mauroy (; 5 July 1928 – 7 June 2013) was a French Socialist politician who was Prime Minister of France from 1981 to 1984 under President François Mitterrand. Mauroy also served as Mayor of Lille from 1973 to 2001. At the time of his de ...

in the Ministry of Solidarity and Heath and the Ministry of Defense.

Biography

François Autain was born on 16 June 1935 in the commune of Luché-sur-Brioux in the

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres (, Poitevin-Saintongese: ''Deùs Saevres'') is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a ...

department. He studied medicine in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

and became active in the Union Nationale des Étudiants de France during the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

. He became a general practitioner in Bouguenais, a commune near Nantes. In 1968, he joined the Unified Socialist Party. In 1971, he was elected as mayor of Bouguenais, a position that he held until 1993. He joined 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 ...

in 1975 and won election to the

in the

1978 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 12 and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth National Assembly of France, National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic. The election results were a victory for conservatives. The results ...

. As a physician, he focused on health issues in the Assembly. After the victory of

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

in the

1981 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pier ...

, Autain joined the government as a Secretary of State, or junior minister. He served in government until 1983, when he was elected as a

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 ...

. Autain served in the Senate until 2011, having been re-elected in 1992 and 2001. He was a secretary of the senate as well as a quaestor, a role that gave him access to government funds that he could distribute to mayors of communes. The party removed him from its official list in 2001; however, he was able to win re-election in the 2001 French Senate Election as a member of the

. He later left the Citizen and Republican Movement and joined the Left Party formed by

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Jean-Luc Antoine Pierre Mélenchon (; born 19 August 1951) is a French politician who has been the ''de facto'' leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) since it was established in 2016. He was the Deputy (France), deputy in the National Assembly ( ...

. He did not stand as a candidate for re-election in 2011.

References

Page on the Senate website
1935 births 2019 deaths People from Deux-Sèvres Unified Socialist Party (France) politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Citizen and Republican Movement politicians Left Party (France) politicians Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Loire-Atlantique French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Loire-Atlantique Mayors of places in Pays de la Loire {{France-politician-Socialist-stub