Paris (AFP)
Former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing died Wednesday evening at the age of 94 "surrounded by his family" on his property in Authon in Loir-et-Cher, AFP learned from his cabinet and the Elysée , confirming information from Europe 1.
The former head of state (1974-1981) had been hospitalized several times in recent months for heart problems.
Mr. Giscard d'Estaing, who had been staying since the start of confinement in his country residence in Authon, had been admitted for a few days in the cardiology department of the Tours hospital from November 15 to 20 for "heart failure".
He had previously been hospitalized for a few days in mid-September at the Georges-Pompidou hospital in Paris for a slight infection in the lungs.
But doctors had ruled out a coronavirus infection.
Mr. Giscard d'Estaing, who celebrated his 94th birthday on February 2, has already been hospitalized in Pompidou in cardiology several times a few years ago for the placement of stents.
Youngest president of the Fifth Republic when he was elected in 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had made one of his last public appearances on September 30, 2019 during the funeral in Paris of another President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac , who was its Prime Minister from 1974 to 1976.
He was also talked about in May, targeted by a sexual assault investigation after a complaint from a German journalist.
The latter accused him of having touched her buttocks during an interview more than a year earlier.
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