Nanterre (AFP)

Hospitalized mid-week after being tested positive for coronavirus, the former minister of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy Patrick Devedjian, 75, died in the night from Saturday to Sunday.

This figure from the right, who has chaired the Hauts-de-Seine general council since 2007, was placed under observation Wednesday in a hospital in the department. Still stable on Friday, according to those around him, his condition quickly deteriorated on Saturday.

Thursday, he indicated in a tweet to be "affected by the epidemic, therefore able to testify directly to the exceptional work of doctors and all caregivers". "Tired but stabilized thanks to them, I go back up the hill and send them a very big thank you for their constant help to all the patients," he added.

His relatives were "very worried because he had a fragile heart and indeed his heart did not hold," testified Sunday his "friend of thirty years", the Modem deputy from Hauts-de-Seine Jean-Louis Bourlanges, on Current Values ​​website.

This disappearance, the first of a French politician following the coronavirus, provoked many reactions.

Nicolas Sarkozy praised the "panache" of his former minister. "Patrick Devedjian was a passionate, whole, sincere, committed man. He embodied politics as I like him," the former head of state wrote on Twitter.

"We will not be able to stand alongside his family to pay him the tribute he deserves," said former Prime Minister François Fillon, who remembers "the images of his smiling face, of his sharp formulas." , his sour humor, his intelligence, his culture. "

Anne Hidalgo, the PS mayor of Paris, expressed her "immense sadness". "I think of our Armenian friends who are losing one of their brothers today," she said.

Proud of his Armenian origins, Patrick Devedjian never stopped fighting for the recognition of the genocide and the development of Armenia.

"His outspokenness will be missed in the public debate," regretted the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, saluting the memory of a "committed Republican".

- "Intellectual nonconformist" -

"He was the most brilliant of us. An extremely free man, intellectual nonconformist, very funny", told AFP Philippe Juvin, president of the federation LR of Hauts-de-Seine, who also directs the emergency at the Parisian Georges-Pompidou hospital.

A militant of the extreme right, before embracing the republican right, lawyer by profession, Patrick Devedjian was a deputy for the 13th district of Hauts-de-Seine from 1986 to 2017, mayor of Antony from 1983 to 2002 and elected departmental advisor in 2004.

He was also spokesperson for the RPR from 1999 to 2001 and secretary general of the UMP from 2007 to 2008 and held several government positions.

Supporter of the autonomy of local authorities, he was first Minister Delegate in charge of Local Liberties (2002-2004), then Minister Delegate for Industry and finally Minister responsible for the Recovery Plan, from 2008 to 2010, in the midst of a crisis financial.

He also chaired the Public Establishment for the development of the La Défense business district (Epad) from 2007 to 2009. He then opposed Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic, who tried, in vain, to impose on his head his son Jean, 23 years, while Mr. Devedjian had to leave the place, reached by the age limit (65 years).

After the controversy, he worked on the creation of the Paris-La Défense public establishment, of which he took the presidency in January 2018.

A great collector, keen on 18th century art, Patrick Devedjian was also administrator of the Louvre museum.

He was at the initiative of the construction of the large complex installed on the island Seguin La Seine Musicale in Boulogne-Billancourt and the indoor sports and cultural center Paris-La Défense Arena in Nanterre.

Recently, he was in charge of the creation of the Grand Siècle Museum in the Sully barracks in Saint-Cloud.

President of the Syndicat Paris Métropole and co-president of the Prefiguration Mission of the metropolis of Grand Paris from 2014 to 2016, Patrick Devedjian had initiated a merger of Hauts-de-Seine with the department of Yvelines.

Married, he had four sons.

© 2020 AFP