Philippe Folgado // Photo credit: STÉPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP 9:23 p.m., March 21, 2024, modified at 11:09 p.m., March 21, 2024
Frédéric Mitterrand died this Thursday at the age of 76 after a battle of "several months against an aggressive cancer", his family announced. He was Minister of Culture under Nicolas Sarkozy, writer, filmmaker as well as a great television man.
The former Minister of Culture is no more. Frédéric Mitterrand died this Thursday, late in the afternoon, after battling illness for several months. Several personalities, both political and media, paid him tribute. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, pays tribute to the “thousand existences” of Frédéric Mitterrand, “all woven with a common thread: culture for everyone”.
For his part, Gabriel Attal saluted the memory of a “man in love with everything that directly or indirectly touched on culture”. “A man who had an insatiable thirst for learning and a constant project to do,” he added, believing that France was losing “a total man of culture.”
His legendary “Good evening!” » will be missed.
From arthouse cinemas to rue de Valois, Frédéric Mitterrand lived a thousand lives, all woven with a common thread: culture for everyone.
My thoughts to his family, his loved ones and the fans of his shows. pic.twitter.com/QBF5h5Dq4x
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 21, 2024
A man “deeply cultivated and delicate, sensitive and endearing”
Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the first to salute the memory of the man who had been his Minister of Culture and Communication between 2009 and 2012. The former president shares his sadness as well as that of his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy , following his disappearance and he remembers a man "deeply cultivated and delicate, sensitive and endearing". “He was an enthusiastic and passionate Minister of Culture, who carried out his duties with panache and talent.”
Carla and I learned with immense sadness of the death of Frederic Mitterrand. He was a deeply cultured and delicate man, a special being, sensitive and endearing, an unclassifiable personality so far from partisan life. He was an enthusiastic Minister of Culture…
— Nicolas Sarkozy (@NicolasSarkozy) March 21, 2024
“Scathing humor, infinite tenderness”
“Minister, man of letters, culture and the media, he leaves behind a great void after a life made of political passion and love of cinema,” said the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun. -Pivet. The President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, also conveys his thoughts to the loved ones and family of Frédéric Mitterrand. On
Frédéric Mitterrand, former minister with multiple cultural hats and unique voice of television has left us. I think of his loved ones and his family. I think of what he leaves for French political life. https://t.co/071B0ZwT4u
— Gérard Larcher (@gerard_larcher) March 21, 2024
Another former Minister of Culture paid tribute to Frédéric Mitterrand. Jack Lang, who worked under François Mitterrand, talks about the disappearance of "a friendship of more than 60 years" which upsets him. He also talks about what he loved most about him: “I appreciated his lively intelligence, his caustic humor, his infinite tenderness, his rare kindness.”
The death of Frédéric Mitterrand upsets me.
A friendship of more than 60 years linked us with unalterable affection. Throughout his life he served the arts with passion, erudition and love.
Our common loyalty to François Mitterrand united us deeply.
1/2
— Jack Lang (@jack_lang) March 21, 2024
Xavier Bertrand remembers, for his part, a “formidable colleague in government”, the latter was Minister of Labor when Frédéric Mitterrand was in charge of Culture. The president of the Hauts-de-France region believes that he “embodied a culture that was often electric, always demanding and so popular”.
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For Valérie Pécresse, Frédéric Mitterrand “already misses us”. She pays tribute to “elegance, humor and (s)his inimitable voice”. The president of the Île-de-France region recalls what he did for this region during his time at the Ministry of Culture: “Île-de-France owes him the Ateliers Médicis in Clichy-Montfermeil, this villa Medici for artists born 'on the wrong side of the ring road'.
In a press release, the current Minister of Culture also paid tribute to him. Rachida Dati salutes the “deep humanity, humor and constant attention to others that he showed until his last breath”, again “this weekend” during one of their last conversations.