Events from the year

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

in France:

Incumbents

* President:

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

(until 16 May),

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

(starting 16 May) * Prime Minister: François Fillon (until 16 May), Jean-Marc Ayrault (starting 16 May)

Events

January

* 11 January – French journalist

Gilles Jacquier Gilles Jacquier (25 October 1968 – 11 January 2012) was a French photojournalist and reporter for France Télévisions. Jacquier worked as a special correspondent for ''Envoyé spécial'', one of France's best known documentary programs whi ...

is killed in

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

after coming under fire whilst reporting the Syrian uprising for France 2. He is the first Western casualty of the conflict. * 13 January –

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

downgrades France's credit rating from AAA to AA+. * 23 January – The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

passes a bill criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide.

February

* 22 February – The term 'mademoiselle' is removed from official documents following a campaign by feminist organisations. * 28 February – The

Constitutional Council Constitutional Council might refer to: * Constitutional Council (Chad) * Constitutional Council (France) * Constitutional Council (Ivory Coast) * Constitutional Council (Sri Lanka) * Constitutional Council (Cambodia) * Constitutional Council (Kaz ...

rules that the bill criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide infringes on freedom of speech, and is therefore unconstitutional. In response, Nicolas Sarkozy orders a redraft of the bill.

April

* April 22 –

and incumbent

are selected as second round competitors in the

2012 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...

. * May 6 – François Hollande is elected as the new president of France. * May 15 – François Hollande is sworn in as president of France; he will serve only one term.

July

* Commission on renewal and ethics in public life is formed by François Hollande on 16 July 2012.

Deaths

* 14 February –

Henri-Germain Delauze COMEX (or Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises) is a French company specializing in engineering and deep diving operations, created in November 1961 by Henri-Germain Delauze and ran by him until his death in 2012. This company is known worldwide for ...

, 82, engineer and diver, founder of COMEX * 15 February – Jacques Duby, 89, actor * 22 February – Rémi Ochlik, 28, photographer * 25 February – Maurice André, 78, trumpeter (born

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

) * 28 March –

Eduard Steinberg Eduard Arkadevich Steinberg (russian: Эдуа́рд Арка́дьевич Ште́йнберг; 3 March 1937 – 28 March 2012) was a Russian painter, philosopher and activist. Personal life Steinberg was born in Moscow, the son of poet, ...

, 75, painter (born

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

) * 29 July –

Chris Marker Chris Marker (; 29 July 1921 – 29 July 2012) was a French writer, photographer, documentary film director, multimedia artist and Essay#Film, film essayist. His best known films are ''La Jetée'' (1962), ''A Grin Without a Cat'' (1977) and ''S ...

, 91, artist (born

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

)

References

Links

2010s in France {{France-hist-stub