Jack Lang (French politician)
Encyclopedia
Jack Mathieu Émile Lang is a French
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...

. A member of the 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...

, he served as France's Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...

 from 1981 to 1986 and 1988 to 1992, and as Minister of Education
Minister of National Education (France)
The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

 from 1992 to 1993 and 2000 to 2002. He was also the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...

 from 1989 to 2000. He currently serves in the National Assembly from the sixth district of Pas-de-Calais.

Biography

Jack Lang was born to Roger Lang and Marie-Luce Bouchet in Mirecourt
Mirecourt
Mirecourt is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France. Mirecourt is known for lace-making and the manufacture of musical instruments, particularly those of the violin family...

, in the département of Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...

. The Langs were a secularized, well-to-do Jewish family based in Nancy. Roger Lang was the commercial manager of the family business which was founded by Jack's grandfather Albert. Roger and Albert were both freemasons. Jack's mother, Marie-Luce Bouchet, a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

, was born in 1919 as the daughter of Emile Bouchet, who died in 1926, and Berthe Boulanger, a nurse who was also a freemason.

In 1938 Albert and Roger sent their wives to Vichy because of the threat of war with Germany. After the German invasion Albert Lang and his wife moved to Brive la Gaillarde in Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...

. The very young Jack and his mother went to stay with his great grandmother (the mother of Berthe Boulanger) in Cholet and subsequently moved to Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

. His father Roger was first mobilized in Luneville, and then joined his parents and his brother-in-law Luc Bouchet in Brive. Jack and his mother also joined them in Brive after the bombing of Bordeaux. Jack Lang's father was sentenced by the court in Brive for failure to report his children as Jews, but was later acquitted by the Court of Appeal on the ground that the childrens' mother was a Catholic. Roger Lang was nevertheless placed under house arrest. Berthe Bouchet (Boulanger) visited the Langs in April 1942 when her daughter was about to give birth to her third child, Marianne. In 1943 Berthe was arrested in Nancy by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 for acts of propaganda and resistance. She was deported to Ravensbrück and gassed in the spring of 1945.

Jack Lang studied political science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

, and went on to receive a postgraduate degree in public law. His career then focused on a combination of teaching and culture and the arts. He was the founder and producer of Festival du Monde in Nancy, was director of the Nancy University Theatre from 1963 to 1972, and then director of the Théâtre national de Chaillot
Théâtre national de Chaillot
The Théâtre national de Chaillot is a theatre located in the Palais de Chaillot at 1, place du Trocadero, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Close by the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro Gardens—the Théâtre de Chaillot is among the largest concert halls in Paris. It has long been synonymous with...

 from 1972 to 1974. At the same time he was a professor of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

 from 1971 to 1981. He married Monique Buczynski in 1961. The couple have two daughters.

Politics

Lang entered politics as a Socialist member of the French National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....

 from Paris in 1977. He is best known for having served as Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...

 (22 May 1981 – 19 March 1986 and 13 May 1988 – 29 March 1993) and as Minister of Education
Minister of National Education (France)
The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...

 (3 April 1992 – 29 March 1993 and 27 March 2000 – 5 May 2002).

In 1981, while Minister of Culture, he created the Fête de la Musique
Fête de la Musique
The Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day, is a music festival taking place on June 21.-History:The idea was first broached in 1976 by American musician Joel Cohen, then employed by the national French radio station France Musique. Cohen proposed an all-night music celebration at the...

, a massive celebration of music held on 21 June each year, where many amateur musicians give free open-air performances. He is the co-founder and president of the Union of the Theatres of Europe
Union of the Theatres of Europe
The Union of the Theatres of Europe is an alliance of European public theatres. It serves to promote European integration through cultural interaction....

.

In August 1981, he created the Lang Law
Lang Law
Lang Law is the informal name given to French law number 81-766, from August 10, 1981, relating to book prices. The law establishes a fixed price for books sold in France, limiting price discounts on them...

, which allows publishers to enforce a minimum sale price for books.

Lang was a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 from 1994 to 1997. In 2000 he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Paris. While he had planned to run for president in 2007
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...

 he decided not to register as a candidate for the Socialist nomination in the name of party unity.

In 2007, Lang agreed to become co-chairman of a commission drafting changes to the Constitution that were supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

 and opposed by the Socialist Party. This decision provoked strong criticism from his party, leading him to end his role in the party leadership. When Parliament voted on the constitutional changes on 21 July 2008, he voted in favor, becoming the only Socialist deputy to do so. A three-fifths majority was required, and the changes passed by a vote of 539 to 357, meaning that Lang's support enabled the bill to pass by a one-vote margin. The Socialist Party denounced Lang for this vote; party spokesman Julien Dray
Julien Dray
Julien Dray was born on 5 March 1955 in Oran, French Algeria. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Essonne department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Works:...

 said that he had "gone too far" and "no longer has his place in our political family", while Jean-Marc Ayrault
Jean-Marc Ayrault
Jean-Marc Ayrault is a French politician and a member of the French Socialist Party. He is currently Mayor of Nantes and President of the Socialist Party group in the French National Assembly....

, the President of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, said that Lang's vote was an act of "crossing the Rubicon
Point of no return
The point of no return is the point beyond which one must continue on his or her current course of action because turning back is physically impossible, prohibitively expensive or dangerous. It is also used when the distance or effort required to get back would be greater than the remainder of the...

". Lang replied by saying that it "is in nobody's power to strike me from the map of the French political landscape".

In late 2009, Sarkozy appointed Lang his special envoy to North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

, following a similar assignment earlier in the year to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

. Lang is scheduled to travel to Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

 on November 9 for a self-described "listening mission" aimed at exploring bilateral ties and discussing the North Korean nuclear program, among other things. Lang briefed American officials including Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
James Steinberg
James Braidy "Jim" Steinberg is an American academic and political advisor, and former Deputy Secretary of State. He is currently Dean and Professor of Social Science, International Affairs, and Law at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.-Early career:He...

 and special envoy Sung Kim
Sung Kim
Sung Kim is a United States diplomat. He currently serves as the U.S. Special Envoy for the Six-Party Talks and has been confirmed to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea...

, as well as ambassadors of countries involved such as Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, before the assignment was publicly announced. Some critics questioned Lang's qualifications, but Lang said he would be driven by his "intuition" that change was afoot in North Korea.

In August 2010, Lang became special adviser on piracy at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

. He was brought in to advise on the prosecution of pirates off the coast of Somalia
Piracy in Somalia
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21st century...

.

Political career

Governmental functions

Minister of Culture : 1981-1986.

Minister of Culture, Communication, Great Works and of the Bicentennial : 1988-1991.

Minister of Culture and Communication, government's spokesman : 1991-1992.

Minister of State, minister of National Education and Culture : 1992-1993.

Minister of National Education : 2000-2002.

Special envoy to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 : February 2009.

Special envoy to North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

 : November 2009.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 : 1994-1997 (Reelected member of the National Assembly of France in 1997). Elected in 1994.

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Pas-de-Calais : Since 2002. Elected in 2002, re-elected in 2007.

Member of the National Assembly of France for Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

 : 1986-1988 (Became minister in 1988) / March–December 1993 (Resignation) / 1997-2000 (Became minister in 2000). Elected in 1986, re-elected in 1988, 1993, 1997.

Regional Council

Vice-president of the Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais : Since 2004

Regional councillor of Nord-Pas-de-Calais : Since 2004.

Regional councillor of Centre : 1992-1998.

General Council

General councillor of Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

 : 1992-1993 (Resignation).

Municipal Council

Mayor of Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...

 : 1989-2000 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995.

Municipal councillor of Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...

 : 1989-2002 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995.

Councillor of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 1983-1989.

By Lang

  • L'État et le théâtre, 1968, LGDJ bibliothèque de droit public
  • Le plateau continental de la mer du Nord : Arrêt de la Cour Internationale de Justice, février 1969 LGDJ bibliothèque de droit international
  • Éclats (avec Jean-Denis Bredin
    Jean-Denis Bredin
    Jean-Denis Bredin is a French attorney and founding partner of the firm Bredin Prat. He is the twentieth, and current occupant of seat 3 of the Académie française, elected on 15 June 1989.-Bibliography:...

    ), éditions Jean-Claude Simoën, 1978
  • Demain, les femmes, Grasset, août 1995
  • Lettre à André Malraux, Éditions 1, November 1996
  • François , Perrin, octobre 1997
  • Les araignées, Pocket, 2000
  • La politique, d'où ça vient ? L'origine de l'État, Les fondements de la République, La genèse de l'impôt (avec Odon Vallet et Gaëtan de Séguin des Hons), Flammarion
    Flammarion
    Flammarion may refer to:* Camille Flammarion , French astronomer* Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion , French astronomer, wife of Camille Flammarion* The Flammarion engraving by unknown artist; appeared in a book by Camille Flammarion...

    , août 2000
  • Qu'apprend-on au collège ? Pour comprendre ce que nos enfants apprennent (avec Claire Bretécher
    Claire Bretécher
    Claire Bretécher is a French cartoonist, known particularly for her portrayals of women and gender issues. Her creations include the Frustrés, and the unimpressed teenager Agrippine.-Biography:...

    ), XO éditions, janvier 2002
  • Anna au muséum, Hachette Jeunesse, avril 2002
  • Laurent le Magnifique, Perrin, août 2002 ISBN 978-2-262-01608-1
  • Une école élitaire pour tous, Gallimard, septembre 2003
  • Un nouveau régime politique pour la France, Odile Jacob
    Odile Jacob
    Odile Jacob is a French publisher who founded Les Éditions Odile Jacob in the middle of the 1980s. She is also a trained scientist, studying the workings of the brain, the mind and thought. She is a member of Le Siècle.-Biography:...

    , août 2004, ISBN 978-2-738-11566-9
  • Nelson Mandela : Leçon de vie pour l'avenir, Perrin, janvier 2005 – ISBN 978-2-262-02194-8
  • Changer livre programme pour 2007, Plon
    Plön
    Plön is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 13,000 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, touching the town on virtually all sides...

    , Septembre 2005, ISBN 978-2-259-20359-3
  • Immigration positive, avec Herve Le Bras, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2006, ISBN 978-2-738-11801-1
  • Faire la révolution fiscale, Plon, 2006, ISBN 978-2-259-20460-6
  • Demain comme hier, avec Jean-Michel Helvig, Fayard, 2009, ISBN 978-2-213-63846-1
  • La bataille du Grand Louvre, éditions Réunions des Musées Nationaux, 2010, ISBN 978-2-711-85789-0
  • Ce que je sais de François Mitterrand, Le Seuil, 2011, ISBN 978-2-021-03793-7
  • François Mitterrand : fragments de vie partagée, Le Seuil, 2011 ISBN 978-2021037937
  • Pourquoi ce vandalisme d'État contre l'École : lettre au Président de la République, Éditions du Félin, 2011, ISBN 978-2-86645-765-5

About Jack Lang

  • Jean-Pierre Colin, L'Acteur et le Roi, Georg, 1994 ISBN 978-2-8257-0490-5
  • Jean-Pierre Colin, Le Mystère Lang, Georg, 2000 ISBN 978-2-8257-0719-7
  • Nicolas Charbonneau, Laurent Guimier, Docteur Jack et Mister Lang, Le Cherche midi, 2004 ISBN 978-2-7491-0189-7
  • Marie Delarue, Les Aventures de Lang de Blois, enquêtes, Jacques Granger, 1995 ISBN 978-2-7339-0474-9 978-2

About Festival de Nancy

  • Marie-Ange Rauch, Le théâtre en France en 1968, histoire d’une crise, thèse consacrée à l’histoire du théâtre en France (1945–1972), Nanterre, 1995, 475 pages. Voir chapitre 2 : « les étudiants le théâtre et le Festival de Nancy », pp. 135–143.

About his action as Minister for Culture and Communication

  • Laurent Martin, Le prix unique du livre 1981-2006. La loi Lang, coordonné par Laurent Martin, Comité d'histoire du ministère de la Culture et des institutions culturelles - IMEC, collection L'édition contemporaine, 2006, 197 p.
  • Laurent Martin, « Oui, le livre a un prix », L'Histoire
    L'Histoire
    L'Histoire is a monthly mainstream French magazine dedicated to historical studies, recognized by peers as the most important historical popular magazine ....

    , number 216, janvier 2007.
  • Philippe Poirrier, L'État et la culture en France au XXe, Le Livre de Poche, 2006.
  • Michel Schneider, La Comédie de la Culture, Seuil, 1993.

Books with a preface from Jack Lang

  • Le Gardien des âmes de Alain Roullier (France Europe éditions), 1998.
  • 16 ans ou l'avènement de la conscience citoyenne de Adyl Abdelhafidi
  • Homosexualité. 10 clés pour comprendre, 20 textes à découvrir de Bruno Perreau
    Bruno Perreau
    Bruno Perreau is an assistant professor of French Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Since 2001, he has taught political science, gender and queer studies at Sciences Po where he opened a course on gay politics with professor Françoise Gaspard in 2006.Bruno Perreau was a member...

     (Librio), 2005.
  • Mitterrand, Une Affaire d’Amitié, de Stephan-Xavier Trano
    Stephan-Xavier Trano
    Stephan-Xavier Trano is a French journalist, essayist and writer based in Chicago, Illinois.At 18, he signed his first articles in the newsweekly Le Nouvel Observateur, founded in 1950 by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and former members of the French Resistance movement.He specialized first in...

     (L'Archipel), 2006, ISBN 978-2-841-87793-5

Fims and articles about Jack Lang

  • À table avec les politiques, 2005, film documentaire de Frédéric Lepage
    Frederic Lepage
    Frederic Lepage is writer and producer of several hundreds of TV shows and documentaries. His first feature film, Sunny and the Elephant, was released in France in december 2008.- Literary career :...

    .
  • Caplan, Lincoln, "M. Le Ministre" The New Yorker
    The New Yorker
    The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

     60/47 (7 January 1985) : 18-19

External links


External links

  • http://JackLang.eu
  • http://jack-lang.over-blog.fr/
  • http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/tribun/fiches_id/1821.asp
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