Michel Aurillac (11 July 1928 – 6 July 2017) was a French lawyer, politician and author. He served as a member of 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 ...

for

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

from 1978 to 1981, and in 1986. He was the Minister of Cooperation from 1986 to 1988. He won the 1987 Prix Narcisse Michaut from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Early life

Michel Aurillac was born on 11 July 1928. He grew up in

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, where his father was a governor. Aurillac was educated at the Lycée Albert-Sarraut in

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

, the Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, and the Collège de la Providence in Hué. He graduated from

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

and the

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President of France, President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the Constitu ...

Career

Aurillac began his career at the Conseil d'État in 1953. He was an advisor to Abdelkader Barakrok, the Secretary of State for

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 ...

, from 1957 to 1958. In 1959, Aurillac became

Léopold Sédar Senghor Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80). Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...

's assistant, a year later, Senghor became the first president of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

, up until 1980. In 1963, Aurillac joined then-Prime Minister

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

's cabinet as an advisor. He was subsequently

Pierre Messmer Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (; 20 March 191629 August 2007) was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Minister of Armies under Charles de Gaulle from 1960 to 1969 – the longest serving since Étienne François, duc de Choiseul under L ...

's advisor and

Michel Poniatowski Michel Poniatowski (16 May 1922 – 15 January 2002) was a French politician, member of a legitimized line of Poland's princely Poniatowski family. He was a founder of the Independent Republicans and a part of the administration for President ...

's chief of staff. He was the

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

in 1965, the Prefect of

Essonne Essonne () is a department of France in the southern Île-de-France region. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659 across 194 communes.Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

and Somme in 1973–1974. Aurillac joined the

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...

, a centre-right political party. He served as a member of the National Assembly for Indre from 1978 to 1981, and in 1986. He served the Minister of Cooperation by then-Prime Minister

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

from 1986 to 1988. He subsequently practised the law until 2001. Aurillac was the author of several books. He won the Prix Narcisse Michaut from the

for his 1987 book ''Le royaume oublié''. He was an officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

and the National Order of Merit.

Works

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Personal life and death

Aurillac was married to

Martine Aurillac Martine Aurillac (born 28 April 1939) is a French politician who was a member of the National Assembly of France. She represented the city of Paris, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (frenc ...

, who was also a politician. He died on 6 July 2017.

References

1928 births 2017 deaths Politicians from Marseille Rally for the Republic politicians Government ministers of France Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Prefects of France Prefects of Essonne French non-fiction writers 20th-century French lawyers Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite {{France-politician-RPR-stub