Gabriel Attal, a French politician and former member of the Socialist Party, and spokesman for French President Emmanuel Macron, his entry into politics at a young age led him to a lot of controversy that led to doubts about his ability to perform his duties, and two months after he took over the Ministry of Education in 2023, he announced the ban on the abaya in public schools.

Birth and upbringing

Gabriel Attal was born on March 16, 1989 in Clamar, southwest of the Paris suburbs. His father, Yves Attal (of Jewish descent), was a lawyer, film producer and journalist for a time at Le Monde, and his mother, Marie de Couris, is an Orthodox Christian, who was employed in a media production company.

After his parents separated in 2000, Gabriel grew up with his sister and mother in the 13th and 14th arrondissements of Paris. Following a dispute with his father between 2010 and 2013, he moved away from him and only returned to contact with him just before he died in November 2015 of cancer at the age of 67.


Study and scientific training

Gabriel received his primary and secondary education at the École Alsatian, an elite private school in Paris' sixth district, and his then-classmate was now singer Joyce Jonathan, where they lived together for two years.

Between 2008 and 2010, he studied at Pantheon University II, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in law. He then obtained a master's degree in public affairs at the Institut d'Etudes Positaires in Paris between 2007 and 2013.

Political experience

Gabriel's passion for politics emerged very early, and from his high school years he campaigned against the government's initiative to amend the then labor law. But his attraction to politics came to light in 2002 during the second round of the presidential election, in which former French radical right-wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen ran against former French socialist President Jacques Chirac. The young man was 13 when his father took him to a demonstration against Le Pen's right-wing National Front.

Since then, he has not stopped engaging in political life, and his father encouraged him on this path, unlike his mother, who feared his involvement in this environment, which she found "violent", but later did not stop supporting and encouraging him.

In 2006, at the age of 17, he first joined the Socialist Party, led by Dominique Strauss, which was also his father's favorite party. Gabriel took his first steps in politics by supporting the candidacy of Ségolène Royal in the 2007 presidential election.

Gabriel Attal (left) with French President Emmanuel Macron (Reuters)

During the 2014 communal elections, he won with 3 communal councillors in the French constituency of Vanves, became a fierce opponent, and submitted his candidacy for the post of branch clerk of the Socialist Party.

In 2012 he spent an internship in the French Parliament during the presidential election campaign, and was particularly responsible for writing official speeches.

In 2016, Macron's Forward movement emerged, and later evolved into the announcement of the establishment of the La République en Marche party in 2017, which became Ennahda in 2022.

Gabriel Attal was one of the first to publicly support Macron when he decided to run for president. He became the party's official spokesman from January 16 to October 2018, <>.

His supporters praise him as a hardworking politician who quickly grasps issues, and former right-wing minister Nadine Morano describes him as "with real political talent" and "working a lot on his files."

Ongoing controversy

Since Gabriel Attal's rise in politics and positions in the French government, he has been the subject of much controversy, as his arrival at the Ministry of National Education has provoked many reactions from various teachers' unions, as he was accused of "ignorance of the public educational system" because he graduated from private education.

He has faced further criticism for his young age, which has haunted him since assuming key positions in government. "Yes, I am young, but you can be 34 years old and have enormous responsibilities," he said, recalling that "one in three teachers is under 3."

Lawyer Juan Branco, Gabriel's former high school classmate, revealed in 2018 that the minister was the son of the film director gay. Politicians have described Gabriel's appointment as education minister as a "summer disaster", saying it would move the ministry "to gays and transsexuals".

A month after being promoted as minister in 2023, he issued a decree on August 27 banning the wearing of abayas and long shirts in schools, sparking controversy and drawing criticism from human rights groups and opposition political currents.

Gabriel Attal was appointed in late July 2023 as minister of civic education and youth (Reuters)

Functions and responsibilities

  • Project Manager at the Académie française de Rome between 2009 and 2010.
  • Political Advisor to Minister Plenipotentiary for the Elderly, Dependency and Autonomy Michel Delaunay.
  • An adviser responsible for relations with deputies and elected officials.
  • He was appointed technical adviser in the cabinet of Minister of Social Affairs and Health Marisol Touraine and became the youngest ministerial adviser.
  • Member of the municipal council of Vanves in 2014, then a member of parliament for the tenth district of the Hauts-de-Seine constituency between 2017 and 2018.
  • He worked as a coordinator within the Cultural Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, and as a rapporteur for the draft law on guidance and student success.
  • In his late twenties, he served as Secretary of State to Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquet between 2018 and 2020.
  • He then served as Secretary of State to Prime Minister Jean Castex and spokesman for the French government from July 2020, 20 to May 2022, <>.
  • Following Emmanuel Macron's re-election in April 2022, he was appointed Minister Delegate for Public Accounts to Elizabeth Bourne's Minister of Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty.
  • As part of a government reshuffle in late July 2023, Gabriel was appointed at age 34 as Minister of National Education and Youth.