Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as

Mayor of Paris The Mayor of Paris (french: Maire de Paris) is the chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France. The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to the C ...

from 2001 to 2014. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

(PS), he previously served in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 until 2001.

Early life

Bertrand Delanoë was born 30 May 1950 in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, at that time a

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

of the French colonial empire, to a French mother and a French-Tunisian father. His father, a

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is c ...

, was atheist while his mother, a nurse, was

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

."Bertrand Delanoë, descendant de rescapés"
''Le Parisien'', 15 March 2008. At 6 years old, Delanoë became a member of the "Petits Chanteurs des Sables", a Christian choral group associated with the Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. At the age of 11, Delanoë witnessed the crisis of Bizerte between France and newly independent Tunisia. Bertrand Delanoë moved back to France with his family following

Tunisian independence Tunisian independence was a process that occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and a separatist movement, led by Habib Bourguiba. He became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia after negotiations with France successfully had b ...

; after the military base in Bizerte was closed in 1963, Delanoë's family broke up. His mother came to live in Rodez,

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants ...

with her son. After leaving school, Delanoë is said to have started studies in law at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. According to '' Who's Who in France'' he has a diploma in economics.

Career

Early political career

Delanoë has been involved in politics since the age of twenty-three as the secretary of the Socialist federation in

. He was first elected to the

Council of Paris The Council of Paris (French: ''Conseil de Paris'') is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental counci ...

in 1977. In 1993, he became the head of the city's Socialist Party branch. In 1995, he was elected to the Senate, where he was secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Mayor of Paris

Delanoë became

on 18 March 2001, when control of the Council of Paris was won by a left-wing alliance for the first time since 1977 (election with universal suffrage). His predecessors were

Jean Tiberi Jean Tiberi (born January 30, 1935) is a French politician who was mayor of Paris from May 22, 1995 to March 24, 2001. , he was mayor of the 5th arrondissement of Paris and deputy to the French National Assembly from the second district of Par ...

(1995–2001) and Jacques Chirac (1977–1995), who resigned after 18 years as mayor when he was elected

President of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

. Delanoë won the mayorship of Paris at the head of a coalition of

Socialists Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the eco ...

, Greens and

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, over the conservative candidates

and

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financi ...

, who were unable to resolve their differences and thereby split the conservative vote. This success in a city which had traditionally been a stronghold of the right until the end of the 20th century was made all the more striking by setbacks to the left in the 2001 municipal elections that occurred more generally. It has been partially attributed with the weariness of the Parisian public with respect to various scandals of corruption and

graft Graft or grafting may refer to: *Graft (politics), a form of political corruption * Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp Science and technology *Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure *Grafting, the joining of plant t ...

in the preceding administrations. Delanoë was virtually unknown before the election of 2001, but soon gained fame for organising new and unusual events in Paris, such as the "Paris Beach" (''

Paris-Plages Paris-Plages ("Paris Beaches"; until 2006 Paris-Plage in the singular) is a plan run by the office of the mayor of Paris that creates temporary artificial beaches each summer along the river Seine in the centre of Paris, and, since 2007, along th ...

'') on the banks of the Seine every summer in order to give Parisians who could not take a regular vacation a chance to relax,

sunbathe Sun tanning or tanning is the process whereby skin color is darkened or tanned. It is most often a result of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight or from artificial sources, such as a tanning lamp found in indoor tanning beds. ...

and build

sandcastle Sand art is the practice of modelling sand into an artistic form, such as sand brushing, sand sculpting, sand painting, or creating sand bottles. A sandcastle is a type of sand sculpture resembling a miniature building, often a castle. The dr ...

s in the center of Paris. The program, especially popular with

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

with children, has been in place since 2002, and has since been copied by many other international cities. As mayor, Delanoë's goals were to improve the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

, reduce pollution, and cut down on vehicle traffic within the city (including a plan for a non-polluting tramway to ease Parisian traffic) and

pedestrian mall Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

s. He helped introduce a program called

Vélib' is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. Launched on 15 July 2007, the system encompassed around 14,500 bicycles and 1,400 bicycle stations, located across Paris and in some surrounding municipalities, with an average d ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfree bicycles") which gave Parisians access to inexpensive rental bicycles available in stations all around Paris. The program has been enormously successful despite the fact that it still has a few

logistical Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

problems to be worked out. He has outlined a plan for an autolib, whereby small cars would be shared. He was reelected in 2008 (57.7%) for a new six-year-term (2008–2014). In 2009, he criticized statements by Pope

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

, which were of the effect that condom use was unhelpful or even counter-productive in the fight against AIDS.

Assassination attempt

Delanoë was stabbed on 5 October 2002 during the ''

Nuit Blanche Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...

'', a night of festivities in Paris, while mingling with the public. His assailant was a Muslim immigrant, Azedine Berkane, who reportedly told police that "he hated politicians, the Socialist Party, and homosexuals." Speaking to ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', one of his neighbors said, "He was a bit like us. We're all

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

here because it's not natural." Before being taken to hospital, Delanoë ordered that the festivities continue. Delanoë's wound was not life-threatening and he left the hospital after about two weeks. Azedine Berkane was eventually permitted to leave the

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...

where he had been a patient after his doctors no longer considered him a threat. However, in early April 2007, he failed to keep a scheduled appointment with his doctors, and has not been seen since.

Olympic bid

The failure to secure the 2012 Summer Olympics for Paris on 6 July 2005 was Delanoë's first major setback as mayor. In the aftermath of the defeat in his Olympic bid, he accused British prime minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

of unduly influencing the result in order to secure the games in London. However, Delanoë's popularity in fact rose during July 2005. The French public appeared to have laid more of the blame on President Jacques Chirac, who allegedly said that "the only worse food than British food is Finnish" which is widely believed to have offended two Finnish members of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Potential presidential bid

Delanoë was said to be considering challenging then-current president Sarkozy in the Presidential election in 2012. However, this plan suffered a setback in November 2008 when he lost the race for the party leadership to

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

mayor

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), Mayo ...

Fake ''New York Times'' letter

On 22 December 2008, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' published a letter attributed to Delanoë criticizing

Caroline Kennedy Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, attorney, and diplomat serving in the Biden administration as the United States Ambassador to Australia since 2022. She previously served in the Obama administration as th ...

's candidacy for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seat vacated by

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

. The newspaper later admitted that the letter, which had been sent by email, had not been properly verified, and was a fake.

Personal life

Delanoë was one of the first major French politicians to announce that he was gay, during a 1998 television interview (before being elected mayor). Although a long-time politician, Delanoë is visible at cultural affairs. He attends film festivals, and he is sometimes quoted in the media or appears on television to speak about his friendship with the late French superstar entertainer,

Dalida Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida, was an Italian-French singer and actress born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records internationally. Her best known son ...

Electoral mandates

''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

for Paris (26th constituency): 1981–1986. Elected in 1981. ''Senate of France'' Member of the Senate for Paris: 1995–2001 (resignation). ''Council of Paris'' Mayor of Paris: Elected in 2001. Reelected in 2008. Councillor of Paris: Elected in 1977. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008.

References

External links

Bertrand Delanoë's web site

The Mayor of Paris, from www.paris.frBBC report on stabbing

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delanoe, Bertrand 1950 births 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians Former Roman Catholics French agnostics French people of Breton descent French people of English descent French people of Italian descent French victims of crime Gay politicians LGBT rights activists from France LGBT mayors of places in France Living people People from Tunis Mayors of Paris Socialist Party (France) politicians Stabbing survivors Victims of anti-LGBT hate crimes Senators of Paris French Senators of the Fifth Republic Toulouse 1 University Capitole alumni LGBT legislators in France 21st-century LGBT people