Antoine Rufenacht (11 May 1939 – 5 September 2020) was a French right-wing ( The Republicans) politician and former

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 ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

. He took the mayoral seat from Daniel Colliard ( PCF) at the municipal election of 1995 and was reelected both in 2001, with a comfortable majority, and in 2008, against Daniel Paul (also PCF). He was also president of the local city community (called ''Communauté d'Agglomération Havraise'' - CODAH) which groups several municipalities around Le Havre, Rufenacht was born in

. A former student of ÉNA, he was a junior minister ( Secrétaire d'État) in the government of

Raymond Barre Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...

, President of the regional council of

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two d ...

, and also a deputy. Rufenacht's political career began in the then Gaullist party, the

Union of Democrats for the Republic The Union for the Defence of the Republic (french: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (french: Union des Démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist p ...

(UDR), and he remained in its successor parties, the Rally for the Republic (RPR), the UMP, and most recently, from 2015, the Republicans. In the presidential election of 1981, he backed the former Gaullist prime minister

Michel Debré Michel Jean-Pierre Debré (; 15 January 1912 – 2 August 1996) was the first Prime Minister of the French Fifth Republic. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France. He served under President Charles de Gaulle from 195 ...

for the presidency against his own party leader, Jacques Chirac, but supported him in 1988 and 1995 and served successfully as his campaign manager for the presidential election of 2002. With

Jacques Barrot Jacques Barrot (3 February 1937 – 3 December 2014) was a French politician, who served as European Commissioner for Justice between 2008 and 2010, after having spent four years serving as Commissioner for Transport (2004–2008) and Commissi ...

, he was seen as one of several possible successors of

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 ...

as Prime Minister of France. In October 2010, he resigned from his post as mayor of Le Havre to be replaced by

Édouard Philippe Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Mayor (France), Mayor of Le Havre since 2020, previously holding the office from 2010 to 2017. He was Prime Minister of France from 15 May 2017 to 3 July 2020 ...

. Rufenacht died on 5 September 2020, aged 81.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Le Havre Mayors of places in Normandy Politicians of the French Fifth Republic École nationale d'administration alumni Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur French Protestants {{France-politician-UMP-stub