Michel Meylan (27 January 1939 – 3 July 2020) was a French politician.

Biography

In 1955, at the age of 15, Meylan organized a trip for his

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

troop to attend the

World Scout Jamboree The World Scout Jamboree is a Scouting Jamboree (Scouting), jamboree of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, typically attended by several tens of thousands of Scouts from around the world, aged 14 to 17. At the jamboree, many scouts sw ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Forty years later, he created the Amicale parlementaire scoute 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 Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which he chaired. This helped him attend meetings with other international scouting organizations in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. In 1959, Meylan began fighting in 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 obtained the rank of second lieutenant following his training. He used his military service to his advantage in his political career as a member of the Cultural, Family and Social Affairs Committee 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 ...

. He started his political career with the

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 ...

(RI) party, which his family had been a part of for over 70 years. However, when he was elected as Mayor of Bonneville and represented

Haute-Savoie's 3rd constituency The 3rd constituency of the Haute-Savoie (French: ''Troisième circonscription de la Haute-Savoie'') is a French legislative constituency in the Haute-Savoie ''département''. Like the other 576 French constituencies, it elects one MP using a ...

in the National Assembly, he was a member of 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). As Mayor of Bonneville, Meylan developed the commune's business district and established the first municipal employment center in

. Meylan created

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

of Bonneville, such as

Racconigi Racconigi (; ) is a town and (municipality) in Piedmont, Italy. It is located in the province of Cuneo, south of Turin, and north of Cuneo by rail. History The town was founded in medieval times. It was a possession of the marquisses of Salu ...

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 ...

and

Téra Téra is a city in the Tillabéri Region, Tera Department of Niger. It is situated 175 km north-west of the capital Niamey, close to the border with Burkina Faso. It is mainly inhabited by Songhai, Fulani, Gourmantche and Buzu ethnic gro ...

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

. The move with Téra helped improve Franco-Nigerien relations and human development improved in the African city. In 1997, Meylan made a controversial statement in the National Assembly amidst a debate on the

civil solidarity pact In France, a civil solidarity pact (), commonly known as a ''PACS'' (), is a contractual form of civil union between two adults for organising their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than marriage. The PACS was voted ...

, saying "If there are queers here, I piss them off". Michel Meylan died on 3 July 2020 at the age of 81.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths People from Ain Independent Republicans politicians Republican Party (France) politicians Liberal Democracy (France) politicians Union for French Democracy politicians 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 Members of Parliament for Haute-Savoie French military personnel of the Algerian War {{France-mayor-stub