Alain Krivine, a life of combat on the far left

Alain Krivine participating in the first congress of the NPA (New Anticapitalist Party) in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, February 7, 2009. AFP - FRANCOIS GUILLOT

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He had been one of the faces of May 68 and a figure of the French extreme left of the last half-century.

Alain Krivine died this Saturday at the age of 80.

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": this is how Alain Krivine began each of his television appearances during the 1969 presidential election. The first of his two candidacies on behalf of the movement Trotskyist of the Revolutionary Communist League.

A political adventure that had however begun 15 years earlier, first within the Communist Party, then in the fight against the Algerian War and finally with the student movement of May 68. Alongside Daniel Cohn Bendit in particular, Alain Krivine is one of the leaders of the protest which will precipitate the departure from power of General de Gaulle and initiate a profound change in society in France.

But these developments, Alain Krivine considers them too soft, without questioning capitalism.

For nearly 40 years, he will therefore carry the voice of a left of rupture, with the LCR.

In 2002, then 2007, his runner-up Olivier Besancenot obtained nearly 4% in the presidential elections.

The political peak of his movement, which in 2009 became the New Anti-Capitalist Party.

Alain Krivine had already taken a step back, but retained his role as a political totem for his heirs, including Philippe Poutou, who is leading his third presidential campaign this year.

 ► To read also: Philippe Poutou: "military interventions have never helped people"

Twelve candidates are in the running for the 2022 French presidential election. © FMM graphic studio

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