Pierre Laffitte (1 January 1925 – 7 July 2021) was a French politician and scientist. He was the founder of

Sophia Antipolis (wisdom), gr, (Ἀντίπολις, antipolis) ("opposite city" from its position on the opposite side of the Var estuary from Nice, also former name of Antibes, part of the technology park) , postal_code = 06220 (Vallauris), 06250 (Mo ...

and represented

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

in the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

from 1985 to 2008 as a member of the Radical Party (PR).

Biography

Pierre was the son of Jean Laffitte, a painter 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 ...

, and Lucie Fink, born in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

under the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. In 2007, Fink was recognized as

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...

. In 1949, Pierre married Sofia Grigorievna Glikman-Toumarkine, who died in 1979. He then married Anita Garcia in 1985, who died in 2005, and lastly married Isabelle Michel. Laffitte graduated from the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and began his career with the Ministry of Industry. He left the Ministry in 1963 and became deputy director of teaching at the Corps des Mines of

Mines ParisTech Mines Paris - PSL, officially École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (until May 2022 Mines ParisTech, also known as École des mines de Paris, ENSMP, Mines de Paris, les Mines, or Paris School of Mines), is a French grande école and a c ...

. With the school, he led '' classes préparatoire aux grandes écoles'' and laid the foundation for the . Laffitte joined the Radical Party early in his life and entered politics in 1961 as a Municipal Councilor in his hometown of

Saint-Paul-de-Vence Saint-Paul-de-Vence (, literally ''Saint-Paul of Vence''; oc, Sant Pau de Vença; it, San Paolo di Venza) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. One of the oldest medie ...

. He became the deputy for Senator in 1971. When Palmero died in May 1985, Laffitte filled his seat. He was re-elected in 1989 and 1998. From 2007 to 2008, he was President of the European Democratic and Social Rally group. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, the election in Alpes-Maritimes was changed to an

election by list A party-list system is a type of electoral system that formally involves political parties in the electoral process, usually to facilitate multi-winner elections. In party-list systems, parties put forward a list of candidates, the party-list who s ...

, and Laffitte ran within the

Miscellaneous right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's candida ...

, allocation 9.2% of votes, finishing fourth and failing to maintain his Senate seat. Pierre Laffitte died on 7 July 2021 at the age of 96.

Distinctions

*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, ...

*Officer of the

Ordre national du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's esta ...

*Commander of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

*Commander of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

*Member of the

KTH Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...

*President of the Haut Conseil culturel franco-allemand (1988–2001) * Adenauer-de Gaulle Prize (1994) *Prix du promoteur de la société de l'information (2004) *Doctor honoris causa of the Colorado School of Mines *Doctor honoris causa of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

Works

*''Introduction à l'étude des roches métamorphiques et des gîtes métallifères'' *''Métallogénie de la France'' *''Carte minière du globe sur fond tectonique au 1/20 0000e'' *''Traité d'informatique géologique'' *''Les Technopoles en France'' *''Sophia Antipolis. Naissance d'une Ville ?'' *''L'Accès au savoir par la télévision''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laffitte, Pierre 1925 births 2021 deaths Senators of Alpes-Maritimes French mining engineers French Righteous Among the Nations Radical Party (France) politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic École Polytechnique alumni People from Alpes-Maritimes KTH Royal Institute of Technology Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany