Xavier Darcos (; born 14 July 1947) is a French

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and former

Minister of Labour Minister of labour (in British English) or labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. An ''agrégé'' professor in literature and general inspector of the National Education system, he has been

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 ...

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also the seat of ...

, 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 ...

, and a minister in

Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005 under President Jacques Chirac. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Un ...

and

François Fillon François Charles Amand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a French retired politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of The Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

's governments.

Biography

Darcos was born on 14 July 1947 in

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

to Jean-Gabriel Darcos and Anne-Marie Banvillet. After getting a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Latin studies from the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

under the direction of Jean-Pierre Néraudau and becoming a professor emeritus in letters and social sciences, he started teaching in 1968, first in

, then in a Bordeaux '' khâgne'' from 1982 to 1987, and finally at the

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

, Paris from 1987 to 1992. In 1989 he became deputy to the Mayor of

. Three years later, he became a senior school inspector. From 1993 to 1995 he was the chief of staff (''directeur de cabinet'') to Education Minister

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has served as Prime Minister of France since December 2024. He has presided over the European Democratic Party (EDP) since 2004 and the Democratic Movement (France ...

, from 1995 to 1997 advisor to Prime Minister

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

for education and culture matters, and from 1995 to 1998, along with François Bayroux and

Claude Allègre Claude Allègre (; 31 March 1937 – 4 January 2025) was a French politician and scientist. His work in the field of isotope geochemistry was recognised with the award of many senior medals, including the Crafoord Prize for geosciences in 1986 ...

, he was the president of school inspectors. From 1996 to 1999 he was also a Professor in

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

at the Paris IV University. In 1997 he became Mayor of

, and was reelected both in 2001 and 2005. He was also elected Senator of

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

in 1998. In May 2002, he became Minister for School Education in

's cabinet, then on 1 April 2004 Minister for Cooperation, Development and Francophony. He has been a member of the

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

Regional Council since 2004. On 15 June 2005 he became a French ambassador for the OCDE. In 2006, he was elected as member of the

Académie des sciences morales et politiques An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and was its ''secrétaire perpétuel'' from 2010 until 2017. Since 18 May 2007, he has been the Minister of National Education in

's governments. In March 2008, he failed to be reelected as Mayor of Périgueux. In 2009, he condemned as "criminal" statements made by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

which claimed that condoms promote

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, when in fact they help protect against it. Darcos was elected as an ''immortel'' of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

on 13 June 2013.Official website of Académie française
/ref>

Political career

;Governmental functions * Minister of Labor, Social Affairs, Family, and Solidarity : 2009–2010. * Minister of National Education : 2007–2009. *Minister of School Education : 2002–2004. *Minister of Development, Cooperation and Francophony : 2004–2005. ;Electoral mandates

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 ...

Senator of

: 1998–2002 (Became minister in 2002). Regional Council Regional councillor of

: Since 2004. Reelected in 2010. Municipal Council *Mayor of

: 1997–2002 (Resignation) / 2005–2008. Reelected in 2001, 2005. *Deputy-mayor of

: 1989–1997 / 2002–2005. Reelected in 1995. *Municipal councillor of Périgueux : 1989–2008. Reelected in 1995, 2001. Agglomeration community Council *President of the Agglomeration community of

: 2000–2001. *Member of the Agglomeration community of

: 2000–2001.

Awards and honours

* Xavier Darcos entered the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in 2006, and the

French Academy French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

in 2013. He is also a Commander 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 society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, Officer of the National Order of Merit, Commander of the Academic Palm and Commander of the Art and letter decoration.

Bibliography

* ''Histoire de la littérature française,'' 1992 * ''Approches ovidiennes de la mort,'' 1995 * ''Mérimée,'' 1998 * ''Robert des grands écrivains de langue française,'' (with other writers) * ''L'Art d'apprendre à ignorer'', 2000 * ''Dictionnaire des mythes féminins,'' 2002 (with other writers) * ''Lettre à tous ceux qui aiment l'école,'' 2003 (en coll.) * ''Deux voix pour une école,'' 2004 (with other writers) * ''L'École de Jules Ferry,'' 2005 ( in 2006) * ''L'État et les Églises, 1905–2005,'' 2005 * ''L'État et les Églises, la question laïque,'' 2006 * ''Tacite, ses vérités sont les nôtres,'' 2007 * ''Bruno Neveu (1936–2004), Institut de France,'' 2007 * ''La escuela republicana en Francia, Prensas universitarias de Zaragoza,'' 2008 () * ''René Haby par lui-même, en coll., INRP,'' 2009, () * ''L'école forme-t-elle encore des citoyens ?, avec Aurélie Filippetti, Frémeaux & Associés,'' 2008 * ''Peut-on améliorer l'école sans dépenser plus ?, avec Vincent Peillon, Magnard,'' 2009 () * ''Ovide et la mort, PUF, Coll. « Hors collection »,'' 2009 () * ''Une anthologie historique de la poésie française, PUF, coll. « Hors collection »,'' 2010 () * ''Dictionnaire amoureux de la Rome antique, Plon,'' 2011 () * ''La Poésie française, Eyrolles, coll. « Mes passions »,'' 2012 () * ''Histoire de la littérature française, Hachette,'' 2013 () * ''Oscar a toujours raison, Plon,'' 2013 () * ''Auguste et son siècle, Artlys,'' 2014, () * ''Jean-Pierre Angrémy, dit Pierre-Jean Remy, Institut de France,'' 2015 * ''Dictionnaire amoureux de l'Ecole, Plon, 2016,'' () * ''Virgile, notre vigie, Fayard,'' 2017, ()

References

External links

Biography

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcos, Xavier 1947 births Living people People from Limoges Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Ministers of national education of France Commanders of the Legion of Honour Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Members of the Académie Française University of Bordeaux alumni Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Dordogne Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Union for a Popular Movement politicians