Paris (AFP)

The third president of the Fifth Republic Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981), who modernized political life in the 70s before seeing his mandate shattered by the economic crisis, died Wednesday evening of Covid-19, surrounded by his family , at the age of 94.

"His state of health had deteriorated and he died of Covid-19," his family said in a statement sent to AFP, specifying that his funeral will take place "in the strictest family privacy."

Hospitalized several times in recent months for heart problems, one of his last public appearances dated back to September 30, 2019, during the funeral in Paris of Jacques Chirac, who was both his Prime Minister and his indirect successor at the head of State.

Figure of French political life, incarnation of the center-right and killer of Gaullism, Mr. Giscard d'Estaing was elected to the Elysee Palace in May 1974 at the age of 48, then the youngest president since Louis Napoléon-Bonaparte .

"For entire generations, especially for those who got involved with him in their youth, he has blown a great wind of modernity on French society and gave birth to an immense hope of going beyond and coming together", reacted to AFP François Bayrou, who took his first steps in politics with him and who was his successor at the head of the UDF party, and according to whom "there remains the immense memory of intelligence and shared laughter, at the same time as a great nostalgia ".

The President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, for his part considered that "the European ideal loses one of its founders, France, a President who brought it modernity and daring".

The Assembly and the Senate, which were sitting at the time of the news, observed a minute of silence.

Born in Koblenz (Germany) in 1926, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a pure product of the French elite, a graduate of Polytechnique and ENA, established himself in the political landscape from the beginning of the Fifth Republic by occupying various ministerial posts from 1962.

However, it was in opposition to Gaullism that he managed to conquer the Elysee Palace in 1974, by first winning on the right against Jacques Chaban-Delmas, heir claimed to General de Gaulle, then by beating on the wire the socialist candidate François Mitterrand.

- European convinced -

The one who aims to bring together "two French out of three" behind his policy multiplies societal reforms: lowering of the majority to 18 years, legalization of abortion or creation of a State Secretariat for the Status of Women, entrusted to the journalist Françoise Giroud.

Giscard also imposed a new style, which intends to lighten the presidential pomp, at the risk of fueling trials in demagoguery when he invites himself to dinner with the French or plays the accordion.

But it is especially the second half of his seven-year term, weighed down by the economic and social crisis born of the oil shocks, and marked by the suspicion of business - that of the "Bokassa diamonds" has permanently marred its image - which gives life to his contemptors.

On May 10, 1981, he finally failed to be re-elected President of the Republic, bowing curtly to François Mitterrand.

"I had never imagined defeat," he later confided.

After his departure remained in the memories - he left an empty chair during a final televised address - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, then the only ex-president alive, was going through a deep depression.

"What I feel is not humiliation, but something more severe: the frustration of the unfinished work", he wrote in 2006 in "The power and the life".

Despite everything, he again became one of the leaders of the right by again leading his party, the UDF.

But, certain of the re-election of François Mitterrand, he does not compete in the presidential election of 1988. Seven years later, credited with 2% in opinion studies, he gives up again.

Shortly before his death, however, he said he was convinced that, if he had come forward, he would have won against Balladur and Chirac.

From the second half of the 90s, Giscard and Giscardism gradually disappeared from the political landscape.

The former president of France, a convinced European, nevertheless pursues an ultimate goal: to become president of Europe.

In 2001, he headed the Convention for Europe, responsible for drafting a European constitution, which was rejected by referendum (55% of no).

The former head of state, however, managed to become "immortal": in 2003, he was elected to the French Academy.

© 2020 AFP