Jean-Pierre Soisson (; (9 November 1934 – 27 February 2024) was a French politician 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 ...

. He was a deputy in 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 first district of

Yonne Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...

for several terms between 1968 and 2012; mayor of

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

from 1971 to 1998; President of the Regional Council of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

(1992–1993 and 1998–2004); and national minister of youth, labour, public administration and agriculture.CV at National Assembly website
.

Life and political career

Soisson was born in

. A member of the centre-right

Independent Republicans The Independent Republicans (, ; RI) were a liberal-conservative political group in France founded in 1962, which became a political party in 1966 known as the National Federation of the Independent Republicans (''Fédération nationale des ré ...

and later the

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

(UDF), he was first elected to the National Assembly in the June 1968 parliamentary election and was re-elected nine times until 2007. He first entered the government under the Presidency of his fellow party member

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, ; ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as simply Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Ministry of the Economy ...

when he became Secretary of State for Universities on 27 May 1974, serving that position until 12 January 1976. He was Secretary of State near the Prime Minister, in charge of Vocational Training, from the latter date until 25 August 1976 and then Secretary of State near the Minister for Quality of Life, in charge of Youth and Sports, until 29 March 1977. He was Minister of Youth, Sports and Leisure from 5 April 1978 to 13 May 1981. After

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 ...

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 ...

's re-election as president seven years later, Soisson returned to the government, taking part in Mitterrand's so-called ''ouverture'', i.e. inclusion of centre-right politicians in predominantly left-wing governments. He became Minister of Labor, Employment and Vocational Training on 29 June 1988, in which position he served for three years before becoming Minister of State, Minister of the Civil Service and Administrative Modernization on 17 May 1991. He remained in that position until 29 March 1992. Later in that year he became Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on 2 October, serving until 29 March 1993. Soisson was Mayor of Auxerre from 14 March 1971 to 5 April 1998. He was also Vice-President of the General Council of Yonne from 1 January 1983 to 27 June 1988, then Vice-President of the Regional Council of

Bourgogne Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. T ...

from the latter date until becoming president in March 1992, in which position he served until 17 April 1993. He was again President of the Regional Council of Bourgogne from 16 March 1998 to 28 March 2004, and he remained a member of the Regional Council. However, his alliance with the National Front between 1998 and 2004 in order to keep his seat in the Regional Council of Bourgogne tarred his career, and owed him to be excluded from the

(UDF), along with Charles Baur, Jacques Blanc, Charles Millon and Bernard Harang. Soisson was finally beaten in 2004 by

François Patriat François Patriat (; born 21 March 1943) is a French politician of Renaissance (RE, formerly LREM) who has been serving as president of the party's group in the Senate since 2017. He has represented the Côte-d'Or department in the Senate since ...

. Jean-Pierre Soisson is one of the French members of the National Assembly who holds the record for longevity by the number of terms, with

Jean Tiberi Jean Tiberi (; 30 January 1935 – 27 May 2025) was a French politician who served as mayor of Paris from 1995 to 2001.

and

Didier Julia Didier Julia (born 18 February 1934) is a French politician. He was in 2007 representing the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) from Seine-et-Marne in the French National Assembly, a post he has held from 1967. He is mainly known for his inter ...

, 10 terms and 32 years in the Assembly from 1968. In 2011, he announced that he would not contest his seat again for the legislative elections of 2012. Soisson was appointed 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. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

in November 2016, for service 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 died from cancer on 27 February 2024, at the age of 89.

Political offices held

Governmental functions Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: 1992–1993. Minister of State, Minister of Civil Service and Administrative Modernization: 1991–1992. Minister of Labor, Employment and Training: 1988–1991. Minister of Youth, Sport and Recreation: 1978–1981. Secretary of State for Youth and Sports: 1976–1977. Secretary of State for Vocational Training: January–August 1976. Secretary of State for Universities: 1974–1976. Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

for

: 1968–1974 (Became secretary of State in 1974) / Reelected in 1978 but he became minister / 1981–1988 (Became minister in 1988) / Since 1993. Elected in 1968, reelected in 1973, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007. ''Regional Council'' President of the Regional Council of

: 1992–1993 (Resignation) / 1998–2004. Vice-president of the Regional Council of

: 1986–1992. Regional councillor of

: 1986–1993 (Resignation) / Since 1998. Reelected in 1992, 1998, 2004. ''General Council'' Vice-president of the General council of

: 1983–1988. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of

: 1971–1998 (Resignation). Reelected in 1977, 1983, 1989, 1995. Municipal councillor of

: 1971–1998 (Resignation). Reelected in 1977, 1983, 1989, 1995.

References