Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right politician and founder of the National Front party, has died at the age of 96, according to a statement from his family shared with AFP.
Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, passed away on Tuesday at midday, “surrounded by his loved ones,” the family said.
A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen was known for his Holocaust denial and extreme positions on race, gender, and immigration. In 1972, he founded the far-right National Front, which later became a significant force in French politics. Le Pen gained international attention in 2002 when he advanced to the presidential election run-off against Jacques Chirac.
His daughter, Marine Le Pen, took over leadership of the party in 2011 and rebranded it as the National Rally, steering it toward greater mainstream acceptance. Under her leadership, the party emerged as one of France’s key political entities.
Jordan Bardella, who succeeded Marine Le Pen as National Rally leader in 2022, said Le Pen had “always served France” and defended its “identity and sovereignty.” Far-right nationalist Éric Zemmour praised him on social media, stating that “beyond controversies and scandals,” Le Pen was among the first to warn France about “existential threats.”
On the other hand, political opponents strongly condemned his legacy. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left France Unbowed party, stated that while the struggle against Le Pen himself was over, the fight against the “hatred, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism” he propagated would continue. Mélenchon added that respecting the grief of the deceased’s family does not negate the right to critique their actions.
Le Pen’s career was marred by repeated controversies and legal troubles. Courts convicted him several times for incendiary remarks, including his infamous Holocaust denial, which led to his expulsion from the National Rally in 2015 after a highly publicized feud with his daughter.
Jean-Marie Le Pen remains a deeply divisive figure in French history, remembered by some as a nationalist patriot and by others as a symbol of bigotry and extremism.
