Jacques Cresta (16 February 1955 – 12 October 2022) was a French politician 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 th ...

(PS).

Life and career

Cresta was born in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

French Algeria French Algeria (french: Alger to 1839, then afterwards; unofficially , ar, الجزائر المستعمرة), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of French colonisation of Algeria. French rule in the region began in 1830 with the ...

on 16 February 1955 to a father who was a banker and a stay-at-home mother. In 1962, his family moved to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, then

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

, and finally settled in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

in 1965. He attended secondary school at the , where he met his future wife, Josy, with whom he had two daughters. He studied economics at the

University of Perpignan The University of Perpignan (french: Université de Perpignan; ca, Universitat de Perpinyà Via Domitia) is a French university, located in Perpignan. History The first university of Perpignan was established in 1349 by King Peter IV of Arago ...

. He then worked for the '. Cresta joined the Socialist Party in 1980, where he rapidly climbed the ladder in roles and responsibilities. In 2002, he was elected First Secretary of the party's Catalan federation, where he was re-elected thrice. The following year, he was elected to the municipal council of

Cabestany Cabestany () is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localisation Cabestany is located in the canton of Perpignan-3 and in the arrondissement of Perpignan. Government and politics Mayors ...

. In 2007, he was expelled from the PS for his support of

Georges Frêche Georges Frêche (July 9, 1938 – October 24, 2010) was a French politician. He served as President of the Languedoc-Roussillon Region from 2004 until his death: prior to that, he had been mayor of Montpellier for 27 years, and was also a fo ...

, but later re-joined the party. In 2010, he was elected to the

Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon The Regional council of Languedoc-Roussillon was the deliberative assembly of the former French region of Languedoc-Roussillon, local authority decentralized acting on the regional territory. It was headquartered in Montpellier, in a ''Hôtel'' bu ...

. In

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 ...

, he was elected to 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 repre ...

Pyrénées-Orientales's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of the Pyrénées-Orientales (French: ''Première circonscription des Pyrénées-Orientales'') is a French legislative constituency in the Pyrénées-Orientales ''département''. Like the other 576 French constituencies, it ...

, where he sat on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. He was a candidate for

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Perpignan in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, when he won only 11.87% of the vote and did not participate in the second round so that the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

candidate could gain more votes against the National Front candidate. In the

2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...

, Cresta announced his support for

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

and did not participate in that year's

legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Jacques Cresta died following a long illness in Perpignan, on 12 October 2022, at the age of 67.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cresta, Jacques 1955 births 2022 deaths 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Members of the Regional Council of Occitania (administrative region) Members of Parliament for Pyrénées-Orientales Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Pieds-Noirs Politicians from Algiers