French President Emmanuel Macron praised Lionel Jospin as a reformer during a memorial service on Thursday at Les Invalides in Paris for the former prime minister, who died on Sunday aged 88.
Members of the Republican Guard carried Jospin’s French flag-draped casket into the courtyard of the building that houses Napoleon’s tomb to the beat of a drum.
“He helped bring France into the new century,” Macron said. “Lionel Jospin modernised the nation’s economic, social and democratic life in an unprecedented manner.”
Jospin introduced the 35-hour work week and civil partnerships for gay couples when he was head of government between 1997 and 2002.
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Political legacy
He ran for president in 2002 but was eliminated in the first round after finishing behind Jacques Chirac and Jean-Marie Le Pen, the father of far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen.
As Jospin’s widow Sylviane Agacinsky looked on, Macron emphasised his sense of rigour and described him as an heir to left-wing figures such as Jean Jaurès, Léon Blum and François Mitterrand.
“He was a landmark in our history and in our minds,” Macron said.
Following the speech, the Republican Guard Band performed “Les Feuilles Mortes”, which Jospin had sung on television in 1984.
His body was then taken to Montparnasse Cemetery in southern Paris, where former president François Hollande, former labour minister Martine Aubry and former interior minister Daniel Vaillant led tributes.
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Career and reforms
Born in July 1937 in Meudon, just west of Paris, Lionel Robert Jospin was shaped by Protestant discipline and socialist beliefs.
His father Robert was a teacher and political organiser, while his mother Mireille Dandieu worked as a midwife and later as a social worker.
After studying at elite French institutions, Jospin briefly embraced Trotskyism before moving towards more moderate socialism. He joined the Socialist Party in 1971 and rose through its ranks, becoming a close ally of Mitterrand and later a mentor to Hollande.
He served as the party’s First Secretary between 1981 and 1988 and was education minister between 1988 and 1992. After two more years as First Secretary, he led the united left to a surprise victory in the 1997 legislative elections.
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Divisions on the left
He led a coalition of Socialists, Communists and Greens during his five years as prime minister under Chirac between 1997 and 2002. His approach combined firm goals with flexible methods.
After his loss in the 2002 presidential election, he announced he would leave politics.
His death has drawn attention to divisions among France’s left-wing politicians a year before the next presidential election.
In an editorial, French daily Le Monde said modern left-wing politicians appeared to have forgotten the lessons of the Jospin era. His broad coalition lasted five years and brought significant reforms, the paper said. “That era is now over.”
