Georges Frêche
Encyclopedia
Georges Frêche was a French
politician
. He served as President of the Languedoc-Roussillon
Region
from 2004 until his death: prior to that, he had been mayor of Montpellier
for 27 years, and was also a former member (député) of the National Assembly. Frêche had been a member of the French socialist party
until he was expelled on January 27, 2007.
A long-time political figure within French political circles, Frêche was an extremely controversial character, considered by some a great builder and visionary, while criticised by others and judged in court for his controversial remarks, which were sometimes interpreted as racist.
, Tarn, in 1938. His father was a military officer, while his mother was a primary school headmistress. Frêche studied law in Paris, and was appointed professor of law at the University of Montpellier 1 in 1969, specializing in Roman law
, before entering politics.
He served as the mayor of Montpellier
from 1977 to 2004. Building on the trend started by his predecessor François Delmas, who landed the Southern Europe IBM
factory and headquarters as well as the scientific university
, Frêche expanded Montpellier in all directions, propelling it from the 25th-largest city in France to the eighth, in less than 30 years. Under Frêche, Montpellier, whose slogan, in the 1980s, reflecting Frêche's ambition, was "the overachiever", specialised in clean, tertiary industries such as banking, electronics and water processing. In 2004, Frêche was elected president of the Languedoc-Roussillon
Region
, and had to resign as mayor of Montpellier after 27 years in office, although he remained president of Montpellier Agglomération, the local agglomeration community.
While he was a member of French's Socialist Party
(PS) and the leader of one of the largest socialist federations in France, Georges Frêche was never given a ministerial position in any socialist government, not even as socialist François Mitterrand
was France's president for 14 years. This could have been due to both the fact that Frêche was an embarrassing figure for the socialists, prone to multiple politically incorrect speeches with racist overtones, and his alleged refusal to let the Socialist Party be secretly financed by fake bills issued by the private company Urba (Urba would cause a major political scandal
in France). It is also to be noted that he had antagonized François Mitterrand as early as the foundation of the current French Socialist Party in 1971, being cast aside even at that date.
Frêche was permanently expelled from the Socialist Party on January 27, 2007, after commenting that the number of black players on the French national football team was out of proportion with their share of the population. Frêche maintained that he was not trying to be racist and was instead talking about whites being less successful at sports because they are not sufficiently "hungry".
Frêche continued to attract controversy after his explusion from the Socialist Party, insulting former Socialist Prime Minister
Laurent Fabius
in the run-up to the 2010 regional elections
, saying "I've got a problem voting for that guy from Haute-Normandie
, he doesn't look too Catholic" (Fabius has Ashkenazi Jewish roots). The Socialist Party ran against Frêche's "independent left" list in the elections for Languedoc-Roussillon
, with Frêche's successor as mayor of Montpellier, Hélène Mandroux as the head of list, but were roundly defeated, gaining only 7.74% in the first round, against Frêche's 34.28%. Frêche went on to easily win the three-way second round with 54.19%, against lists from the UMP (26.43%) and the FN (15.67%).
Frêche died of a heart attack in Montpellier on the afternoon of October 24, 2010, aged 72.
Regional Council
Municipal Council
Agglomeration community Council
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He served as President of the Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
Region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
from 2004 until his death: prior to that, he had been mayor of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
for 27 years, and was also a former member (député) of the National Assembly. Frêche had been a member of the French socialist party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
until he was expelled on January 27, 2007.
A long-time political figure within French political circles, Frêche was an extremely controversial character, considered by some a great builder and visionary, while criticised by others and judged in court for his controversial remarks, which were sometimes interpreted as racist.
Life and career
Frêche was born in PuylaurensPuylaurens
Puylaurens is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-References:*...
, Tarn, in 1938. His father was a military officer, while his mother was a primary school headmistress. Frêche studied law in Paris, and was appointed professor of law at the University of Montpellier 1 in 1969, specializing in Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
, before entering politics.
He served as the mayor of Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
from 1977 to 2004. Building on the trend started by his predecessor François Delmas, who landed the Southern Europe IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
factory and headquarters as well as the scientific university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
, Frêche expanded Montpellier in all directions, propelling it from the 25th-largest city in France to the eighth, in less than 30 years. Under Frêche, Montpellier, whose slogan, in the 1980s, reflecting Frêche's ambition, was "the overachiever", specialised in clean, tertiary industries such as banking, electronics and water processing. In 2004, Frêche was elected president of the Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
Region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
, and had to resign as mayor of Montpellier after 27 years in office, although he remained president of Montpellier Agglomération, the local agglomeration community.
While he was a member of French's Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
(PS) and the leader of one of the largest socialist federations in France, Georges Frêche was never given a ministerial position in any socialist government, not even as socialist François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
was France's president for 14 years. This could have been due to both the fact that Frêche was an embarrassing figure for the socialists, prone to multiple politically incorrect speeches with racist overtones, and his alleged refusal to let the Socialist Party be secretly financed by fake bills issued by the private company Urba (Urba would cause a major political scandal
Urba affair
The Urba affair was an incident of political corruption in France pertaining to skimming receipts from public works for use for party campaigning during the 1970s and 1980s...
in France). It is also to be noted that he had antagonized François Mitterrand as early as the foundation of the current French Socialist Party in 1971, being cast aside even at that date.
Frêche was permanently expelled from the Socialist Party on January 27, 2007, after commenting that the number of black players on the French national football team was out of proportion with their share of the population. Frêche maintained that he was not trying to be racist and was instead talking about whites being less successful at sports because they are not sufficiently "hungry".
Frêche continued to attract controversy after his explusion from the Socialist Party, insulting former Socialist Prime Minister
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius
Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...
in the run-up to the 2010 regional elections
French regional elections, 2010
Regional elections were held in France on 14 and 21 March 2010. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 régions, which, though they do not have legislative autonomy, manage sizable budgets....
, saying "I've got a problem voting for that guy from Haute-Normandie
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...
, he doesn't look too Catholic" (Fabius has Ashkenazi Jewish roots). The Socialist Party ran against Frêche's "independent left" list in the elections for Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
, with Frêche's successor as mayor of Montpellier, Hélène Mandroux as the head of list, but were roundly defeated, gaining only 7.74% in the first round, against Frêche's 34.28%. Frêche went on to easily win the three-way second round with 54.19%, against lists from the UMP (26.43%) and the FN (15.67%).
Frêche died of a heart attack in Montpellier on the afternoon of October 24, 2010, aged 72.
Controversial comments
- July 1, 2000: "This is the longest tunnel in the world. You enter it in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and you come out in OuarzazateOuarzazate-See also:* Tizi n'Tichka: The mountain pass that leads to Ouarzazate* List of Movies shot in Morocco-External links:* at IMDb...
",« Ici, c'est le tunnel le plus long du monde : vous entrez en France et vous sortez à Ouarzazate. » a city in Morocco. Frêche was referring to the then-newly installed tramway line, of which one of the two terminusTerminal StationTerminal Station is a 1953 film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of the love affair between an Italian man and an American woman. The film was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Production:...
is in Montpellier's La Paillade, an area chiefly populated by citizens of Arabic origin and MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
religion. - April, 2005: "I hope he does better than the other idiot",« J'espère qu'il sera meilleur que l'autre abruti. Celui-là, on le jugera sur le mariage des prêtres et la capote. » referring to the election of the new popePopeThe Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Benedict XVI, replacing pope John-Paul II, the "idiot" in his sentence. - February 11, 2006: "You are sub-humans",« Vous êtes vraiment d’une incurie incroyable. Vous ne connaissez pas l’histoire. Ah, vous êtes allés avec les gaullistes… Vous faites partie des harkis qui ont vocation à être cocus toute leur vie… Faut-il vous rappeler que 80 000 harkis se sont fait égorger comme des porcs parce que l'armée française les a laissés ? Moi qui vous ai donné votre boulot de pompier, gardez-le et fermez votre gueule ! Je vous ai trouvé un toit et je suis bien remercié. Arrêtez-vous ! Arrêtez-vous ! Allez avec les gaullistes ! Allez avec les gaullistes à Palavas. Vous y serez très bien ! Ils ont massacré les vôtres en Algérie et vous allez leur lécher les bottes ! Mais vous n’avez rien du tout ! Vous êtes des sous-hommes ! Rien du tout ! Il faut que quelqu’un vous le dise ! Vous êtes sans honneur. Vous n’êtes pas capables de défendre les vôtres ! Voilà, voilà… Allez, dégagez ! » talking to a group of Harkis, who fought alongside France in the independence war of AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
. They had been taking part in a demonstration of support to the French law on colonialismFrench law on colonialismThe February 23, 2005, French law on colonialism was an act passed by the Union for a Popular Movement conservative majority, which imposed on high-school teachers to teach the "positive values" of colonialism to their students...
, which asked teachers and textbooks to "acknowledge and recognise in particular the positive role of the French presence abroad, especially in North Africa", in Palavas-les-FlotsPalavas-les-FlotsPalavas-les-Flots is a commune in the Hérault department in Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France.-Geography:Palavas is a seaside resort, some six km south of Montpellier, at the Gulf of Lion and the Mediterranean Sea. It lies on a strip of sand dunes that separates two lakes, the Étang de...
. - November 15, 2006: "On [the French national football team], there are 9 Blacks out of 11. The normal number would be three or four. This would reflect [French] society. But if there are so many, it is because Whites are lame. I'm ashamed for this country. Soon, there will be eleven blacks. When I see certain football teams, it makes me sad."« Dans cette équipe, il y a neuf blacks sur onze. La normalité serait qu'il y en ait trois ou quatre. Ce serait le reflet de la société. Mais, là, s'il y en a autant, c'est parce que les blancs sont nuls. J'ai honte pour ce pays. Bientôt, il y aura onze blacks. Quand je vois certaines équipes de foot, ça me fait de la peine. » Frêche received support from political opponents such as Jean-Pierre GrandJean-Pierre GrandJean-Pierre Grand is a French politician, born November 18, 1950, in Montpellier, Hérault, France. As of 2007, he serves as the mayor of Castelnau-Le-Lez and as Deputy in the French National Assembly ....
during the media storm that occurred after his outburst about the French football team.
Electoral mandates
National Assembly of France- Member of the National Assembly of France for HéraultHéraultHérault is a department in the south of France named after the Hérault river.-History:Hérault is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
: 1973–1978 / 1981–1993 / 1997–2002. Elected in 1973, reelected in 1981, 1986, 1988, 1997.
Regional Council
- President of the Regional Council of Languedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
: 2004–2010 (Died in 2010). Reelected in 2010 - Vice-president of the Regional Council of Languedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
: 1973–1986. - Regional councillor of Languedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-RoussillonLanguedoc-Roussillon is one of the 27 regions of France. It comprises five departments, and borders the other French regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne, Midi-Pyrénées on the one side, and Spain, Andorra and the Mediterranean sea on the other side.-Geography:The region is...
: Since 1973. Elected in 1986, reelected in 1992, 1998, 2004, 2010.
Municipal Council
- Mayor of MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
: 1977-2004 (Resignation). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001. - Municipal councillor of MontpellierMontpellier-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
: 1971–2010 (Died in 2010). Reelected in 1977, 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008.
Agglomeration community Council
- President of the Agglomeration community of Montpellier Agglomération : 1977–2010 (Died in 2010). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008.
- Member of the Agglomeration community of Montpellier Agglomération : 1977–2010 (Died in 2010). Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008.