Renaud Muselier (born 6 May 1959) is a French physician and politician who has served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( French: ''Conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur'') is the deliberative assembly of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The regional council is made up of 123 regional c ...

since 2017. A former member of The Republicans (LR), he previously was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from 2014 to 2019.

Early life and education

A native of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, Muselier is the grandson of Admiral

Émile Muselier Émile Henry Muselier (Marseilles, 17 April 1882 – Toulon, 2 September 1965) was a French admiral who led the Free French Naval Forces ('' Forces navales françaises libres'', or FNFL) during World War II. He was responsible for the idea ...

. He is the nephew of the Queen

Geraldine of Albania Countess Géraldine Margit Virginia Olga Mária Apponyi de Nagy-Appony ( en, Geraldine; 6 August 1915 – 22 October 2002) was Queen of the Albanians from her marriage to King Zog I on 27 April 1938 until the King was deposed on 7 April of th ...

(née Countess

Apponyi The Apponyi, also Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, were a prominent and powerful Hungarian family group of the high upper nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary, whose's members remained notable even after the kingdom's dismemberment in the successor states ...

de Nagy-Apponyi), wife of the last King of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Zog I Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's ...

, deposed by the Italians in 1939.

Political career

Muselier was the member of the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille – Notre-Dame-du-Mont from 1992 to 1995, as well as a member of the Regional Council of

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pref ...

from 2004 to 2007. He was Deputy Mayor of

from 1995 to 2008 under the mayorship of

Jean-Claude Gaudin Jean-Claude Gaudin (; born 8 October 1939) is a French politician for The Republicans. He served as the Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020. He was a member of the National Assembly of France from Bouches-du-Rhône from 1978 to 1989 and has be ...

Early career in national politics

Muselier was a member of the National Assembly of France for the 5th constituency of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

from 1993 to 2002. During that time, her served on the Committee on Cultural Affairs. From 2002 to 2005, Muselier served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, under the leadership of successive ministers

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

and Michel Barnier. Following the 2007 legislative election, Muselier re-joined the National Assembly, serving on its Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012. Muselier was reelected of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in 2015 and became its first vice-president under the presidency of

Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...

Member of the European Parliament, 2014–2019

Muselier became a

following the 2014 European election. Throughout his term, he served on the

Committee on Transport and Tourism The Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair is the French MEP Karima Delli of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance. Research service The Committee is directly supported by ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the Parliament's delegation to the

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP c ...

. In the 2016 The Republicans presidential primary, Muselier endorsed

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-Se ...

as the party's candidate for the office of

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 i ...

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, 2017–present

On 29 May 2017, Muselier was elected President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, succeeding

, who returned as

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 ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

. Muselier announced his intention to run for reelection on a joint ticket with La République En Marche! (LREM) in 2021, under an agreement brokered by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Jean Castex Jean Castex (; born 25 June 1965) is a French politician who was the country's Prime Minister from 3 July 2020 to 16 May 2022. He was a member of The Republicans (LR) until 2020, when he joined La République En Marche! (LREM). Castex served f ...

. However, this led to the resignation of Nice Mayor

and Toulon Mayor

Hubert Falco Hubert Falco (born 15 May 1947 in Pignans, Var) is a French politician who has been appointed Secretary of State for development of the territory in the government of François Fillon on 18 March 2008. He is the mayor of Toulon Toulon (, ...

from The Republicans a few days later. LREM politician

Sophie Cluzel Sophie Cluzel (; born 7 January 1961) is a French politician of La République En Marche! (LREM) who served as the Secretary of State in charge of People with Disabilities in the governments of successive Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Je ...

subsequently announced she would lead a list herself, thus terminating the joint ticket agreement, before backtracking and announcing the agreement would be upheld. Muselier ultimately got 57.3 percent of the vote, against 42.7 percent for National Rally candidate Thierry Mariani. Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Muselier publicly declared his support for

Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...

as the Republicans’ candidate. Shortly after, he announced his decision to leave the Republicans, accusing fellow party member Eric Ciotti of "conveying the ideas of

Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right politician, essayist, writer and former political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show broadcast on CNews, from 2019 to ...

within LR".

Other activities

* Associations Pensons le Grand Marseille et Cap sur l'Avenir, President *

Chorégies d'Orange The ''Chorégies d'Orange'' is a summer opera festival held each August in Orange located about 21 kilometres north of Avignon in southern France. Performances are presented in the ancient Roman theatre, the Théâtre Antique d'Orange, the orig ...

, Member of the Board of Directors * Fondation Philippe Daher, Member of the Board of Directors *

French Development Agency The French Development Agency (french: Agence française de développement, AFD) is a public financial institution that implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. This pub ...

(AFD), Member of the Board of Directors *

Institut du Monde Arabe The ''Institut du Monde Arabe'', French for Arab World Institute, abbreviated ''IMA'', is an organization founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural an ...

(IMA), Chairman of the Board of Trustees (since 2011) *

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historia ...

, Honorary Member of the Board of DirectorsBoard of Directors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muselier, Renaud 1959 births Living people 20th-century French politicians 21st-century French politicians Physicians from Marseille Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic The Republicans (France) MEPs MEPs for South-East France 2014–2019 20th-century French physicians Secretaries of State of France Departmental councillors (France) Members of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Presidents of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French city councillors