Frédéric Mitterrand (born 21 August 1947) is a French politician who served as
Minister of Culture and Communication of France from 2009 to 2012 under 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-Sei ...
. Throughout his career, he has been an actor, screenwriter, television presenter, writer, producer and director.
Biography
Born in Paris, he is the nephew of
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, ...
, who was the
president of France
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 ...
from 1981 to 1995, and the son of engineer Robert Mitterrand
(1915–2002) and Edith Cahier, the niece of
Eugène Deloncle, the co-founder of "
La Cagoule".
He attended the
Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris and studied history and geography at the
Paris West University Nanterre La Défense
Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...
, and political science at
Sciences Po
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public research university''Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, accreditation ...
. He taught economics, history and geography at
EABJM from 1968 to 1971. In 1978, he was a film critic at ''J'informe''. From 1971 to 1986, he ran several
art film
An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primaril ...
cinemas in Paris (Olympic Palace, Entrepôt and Olympic-Entrepôt). He also had roles in a number of films, and in the 1980s was active as a producer and director in TV productions.
In June 2008, Mitterrand was appointed as the director of the
French Academy in Rome
The French Academy in Rome (french: Académie de France à Rome) is an Academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy.
History
The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 16 ...
by 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-Sei ...
.
A year later, on 23 June 2009, Mitterrand was appointed to the French government as the
Minister of Culture and Communications until May 2012.
Mitterrand, who is openly bisexual, writes a monthly column for ''
Têtu''.
''The Bad Life''
Mitterrand's autobiographical novel ''
The Bad Life'' (french: link=no, La mauvaise vie) was a best seller in 2005. In the book he details his "delight" whilst visiting the
male brothel
Male prostitution is the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. It is a form of sex work. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. Male pr ...
s of
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...
, and writes, "I got into the habit of paying for boys ... The profusion of young, very attractive and immediately available boys put me in a state of desire I no longer needed to restrain or hide." At the time of its release Mitterrand was applauded for his honesty, but he has had to defend his writings after he publicly defended Roman Polanski when
Polanski was detained in Switzerland on an American request for
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisd ...
for raping a thirteen-year-old girl.
On 5 October 2009,
Marine Le Pen
Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its p ...
of the
French National Front Party quoted sections of the book on French television, accusing him of having sex with underage boys and engaging in "
sex tourism
Sex tourism refers to the practice of traveling to foreign countries, often on a different continent, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity or relationships in exchange for money or lifestyle support. This practice predominantly oper ...
", demanding that Mitterrand resign his position as culture minister. Amongst others he was also criticised by the
Socialist Party spokesman
Benoît Hamon, who stated: "As a minister of culture he has drawn attention to himself by defending a film maker and he has written a book where he said he took advantage of sexual tourism. To say the least, I find it shocking." On the other hand, some
conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
supported Mitterrand, and a close aide to
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-Sei ...
said the French President backed his Culture Minister, describing the controversy around him as "pathetic".
Mitterrand insisted the book is not an autobiography, the publisher describes it as a "novel inspired by autobiography" and the
BBC refers to it as "autobiographical novel".
In his own defence Mitterrand stated, "Each time I was with people who were my age, or who were five years younger – there wasn't the slightest ambiguity – and who were consenting", and that he uses the term "boys" loosely, both in his life and in the book. He also declared, "I condemn sexual tourism, which is a disgrace. I condemn
paedophilia, which I have never in any way participated in."
Filmography
;Actor:
* 1960: ''Fortunat''
* 1992: ''La collection secrète de Salvador Dalí'' by
Otto Kelmer
Otto Kelmer (, born 28 January 1948) is a German film director, author, artist, and psychoanalyst.
Life and work
Otto Kelmer was born in Bucharest in 1948 and emigrated with his parents to Germany in 1963. From 1966 to 1967 he studied script w ...
* 1997: ''Mon copain Rachid'', by Philippe Barassat
* 1998: ''
Que la lumière soit'', by
Arthur Joffé
Arthur Joffé (born 20 September 1953) is a French film director, the son of the director and screenwriter Alex Joffé.Philippe Rège, ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors'', volume 1, p538 He was awarded the Palme d'Or du court métrage at t ...
* 2001: ''
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain'' by
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
;Director:
* 1981: ''Lettres d'amour en Somalie''
* 1984: ''Paris vu par… vingt ans plus tard''
* 1995: ''
Madame Butterfly'', adaption of the Puccini opera
;Producer:
* ''Les Aigles foudroyés'', documentary
* ''Mémoires d'exil'', documentary
* ''Fairouz'', documentary, 1998
* ''Je suis la Folle de Brejnev'', 2001
* ''
FARAH: The Last Empress'', documentary 2009
Publications
* ''Tous désirs confondus'', Actes Sud, 1988, new ed. 2009
* ''Mémoires d'exil'', Robert Laffont, 1990,
* ''Destins d'étoiles'' – tomes 1, 2, 3, 4 – Fixot, 1991–1992
* ''Monte Carlo: la légende'', Assouline, 1993
* ''Une saison tunisienne'', sous la direction de Frédéric Mitterrand et Soraya Elyes-Ferchichi, Actes Sud, 1995
* ''L'Ange bleu: un film de Joseph von Sternberg'', Plume, 1995
* ''Madame Butterfly'', Plume, 1995
* ''Les Aigles foudroyés – la fin des Romanov des Habsbourg et des Hohenzollern'', Pocket, 1998
* ''Un jour dans le siècle'', Robert Laffont, 2000
* ''
La Mauvaise Vie'', Robert Laffont, 2005
* ''Lettres d'amour en Somalie'', Pocket, September 2006
* ''Maroc, 1900–1960 Un certain regard'', avec
Abdellah Taïa, Actes Sud, 2007
* ''Le Festival de Cannes'', Robert Laffont, 2007
* ''Le désir et la chance'', Robert Laffont, 2012
* ''La récréation'', Robert Laffont, 2013
Honours
National honours
* : Former Chancellor Officer of the
Order of the Legion of Honour
* : Former Chancellor Officer of the
National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit.
Order of merit may also refer to:
* FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football
* PDC O ...
* : Former Chancellor Commander of the
Order of Arts and Letters, 1st Class
Foreign honours
* : Knight Officer of the
Order of Cultural Merit
*
Romanian Royal Family
The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...
: Knight Commander of the
Order of the Crown
*
Romanian Royal Family
The Romanian royal family ( ro, Familia regală a României) was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Romania, a constitutional monarchy in Central-Eastern Europe. The kingdom existed from 1881, when Carol I of Romania was proclaimed king, until ...
: Knight of the
Royal Decoration of the Cross of the Romanian Royal House
References
External links
*
(In French) A passage from Mitterrand's autobiography, "La Mauvaise Vie"(Edition Robert Laffont, 360 p., 2005), pages 293 à 307. publisher LeMonde.Fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitterrand, Frederic
1947 births
Living people
Male actors from Paris
Bisexual male actors
Bisexual politicians
Bisexual writers
French male film actors
French film directors
French film producers
French Ministers of Culture
French male screenwriters
French screenwriters
French television presenters
French television producers
LGBT film directors
LGBT television directors
French LGBT politicians
LGBT screenwriters
French LGBT writers
François Mitterrand
Lycée Janson-de-Sailly alumni
Sciences Po alumni
Officers of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco)
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania)
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
20th-century French writers
21st-century French writers
21st-century French politicians
University of Paris alumni
Mitterrand family