Patrick Devedjian ( hy, Պատրիկ Դեւեջեան; 26 August 1944 – 28 March 2020) was a French politician of 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 Soci ...

(UMP) party. A close adviser of

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 ...

since the 1990s, he was Minister under the Prime Minister in charge of the Implementation of the Recovery Plan, a special ministerial post created for two years following the

global financial crisis of 2008 Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

, a tenure which commenced in December 2008. He was of Armenian descent. In the night of 28 to 29 March 2020, he died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

during the coronavirus pandemic.

Youth

Devedjian was born in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissemen ...

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

. He was the grandson of the Armenian

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and Ottoman bureaucrat

Karekin Deveciyan Karekin Deveciyan (1868 in Harput – 1964 in Istanbul) was a Turkish-Armenian zoologist who wrote ''Türkiye'de Balık ve Balıkçılık'', one of the first scientific studies on fish and fisheries in Turkey. He served in the Ottoman burea ...

. His father was born in

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

and arrived in France after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Devedjian received his early education in an Armenian school in

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...

. He continued his education at the Panthéon-Assas University. He joined the far-right group

Occident The Occident is a term for the West, traditionally comprising anything that belongs to the Western world. It is the antonym of ''Orient'', the Eastern world. In English, it has largely fallen into disuse. The term ''occidental'' is often used to ...

in 1963, at the age of 17. In a 2014 interview, he stated he regretted his past membership in the organization, and that he had "never condoned any crime". He was admitted to the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Bar in 1970. He became a militant in the

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...

movement in 1971 and took part in the foundation of 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 ...

(RPR) party in 1976.

Career

Mayor of Antony and Deputy

In 1983, Devedjian was elected Mayor of Antony, a position he would hold until 2002 with re-elections in 1989, 1995 and 2001. In 1986, he also became a Deputy in 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 r ...

from the

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west ...

department and was re-elected six times in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007 and 2012. He was a member of the Assembly Committee on Finance and was rapporteur of the

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is a legal agreement between many countries, whose overall purpose was to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers such as tariffs or quotas. According to its pr ...

Committee. In 1992, he was one of the few members of the RPR who voted to support the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve member states of the European Communities, it announced "a new stage in the ...

. During the 1995 presidential campaign, he supported

Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...

together with

, and suffered unpopularity with the RPR after Balladur's defeat against

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a Politics of France, 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 ...

. He became a close adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy and came back into favour during the presidential campaign of 2002.

Second Chirac presidency

After

’s reelection in 2002,

, who became

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and ''de facto'' Number 2 of

Jean-Pierre Raffarin Jean-Pierre Raffarin (; born 3 August 1948) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005. He resigned after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. Howev ...

's government, chose Patrick Devedjian to be his Deputy Minister for Local Liberties, in charge of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loc ...

. As President Chirac had requested that ministers did not carry local executive powers, Devedjian resigned as Mayor of Antony and was succeeded by Raymond Sibille. He was also replaced in Parliament by his substitute Georges Siffredi. When Nicolas Sarkozy became Minister of the Economy and Finance in 2004, Patrick Devedjian followed him as Deputy Minister for Industry. In June 2005, new Prime Minister

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 ...

did not include Patrick Devedjian in his government. As a result, Georges Siffredi resigned from Parliament in October in order for Devedjian to be reelected in the

13th constituency. Devedjian proposed an amendment to a proposed bill penalizing

denial of the Armenian Genocide Armenian genocide denial is the claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I—a crime documented in a large body of ...

on 9 October 2006 that read, "These regulations do not apply to academic and scientific researches and studies." Devedjian added a statement to the amendment that according to media would "prevent any provocations and political demonstrations organized by a foreign country." When Nicolas Sarkozy resigned from Government and became President of the

party, Patrick Devedjian became his political advisor. Patrick Devedjian 2007 06 06 n1

2007 elections

After the 2007 presidential election and

’s election as President of the Republic, tensions appeared between Sarkozy and Devedjian, who had wished and been predicted to become

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Instead, Sarkozy chose Rachida Dati, the first woman of Northern African ancestry to hold a Ministry in France. Devedjian was not included in François Fillon’s government. On that occasion, Devedjian bitterly remarked: "I am in favour of a government open to a wide range of people—even to Sarkozists." The joke earned him the 2007 Prize for Political Humour. Instead, Devedjian took the presidency of the

General Council on 1 June, becoming head of the richest ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...

'' in France. He was also named Deputy Secretary-General of the

(UMP), replacing

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...

, then Secretary-General on 25 September, sharing the party leadership with First Vice President

Return to government

From 8 December 2008 to 13 November 2010, Devedjian was appointed Minister under the Prime Minister in charge of the Implementation of the Recovery Plan, a special ministerial post created for two years after the

and the announcement of a recovery package by President Sarkozy on 4 December. He left the UMP leadership to Xavier Bertrand on 8 December.

Political career

Governmental functions Minister of Economic Recovery Plan : 2008–2010. Minister of Industry : 2004-2005 Minister of Local Liberties : 2002-2004 Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

for

(13th constituency) : 1986-2002 (Became minister in 2002) / 2005-2008 (Became minister in 2008) / And since 2010. Elected in 1986, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002, 2005 (by-election), 2007 and 2012. ''General Council''

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 Hauts-de-Seine General Council : Since 2007 (Replacement after the resignation of

, who became president of the French Republic)

Vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

of Hauts-de-Seine General Council : 2004–2007. Hauts-de-Seine general councillor : Since 2004. ''Municipal Council'' Mayor of

Antony, Hauts-de-Seine Antony () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Antony is a subprefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department and the seat of the arrondissement of Antony. Watered by the Bièvre, a tributary of the ...

: 1983-2002 (Resignation). Elected in 1983, reelected in 1989, 1995, 2001. Deputy-mayor of

: 2002-2005 (Resignation). Municipal councillor of

: 1983–2005. (Resignation) ''Agglomeration community Council'' President of the Agglomeration community of Hauts de Bièvre : 2002-2005 (Resignation). Member of the Agglomeration community of Hauts de Bièvre : 2002–2008. Political functions General Secretary of the

: 2007–2008. Spokesman of the

: 1999–2001.

Controversies

After the 2007 legislative elections, Télé Lyon Métropole (TLM) filmed a conversation during which a UMP Deputy 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 ...

introduced new MP Michel Havard to Patrick Devedjian, saying that Havard had beaten Democratic Movement candidate

Anne-Marie Comparini Anne-Marie Comparini (born 11 July 1947 in Orange, Vaucluse) is a French politician. She is a former Member of Parliament and a former President of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council.Insult humbles French politician
BBC News

References

External links

Patrick Devedjian's official website (in French)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devedjian, Patrick 1944 births 2020 deaths Presidents of the General Council of Hauts-de-Seine Mayors of places in Île-de-France Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Government ministers of France Lycée Condorcet alumni People from Fontainebleau French people of Armenian descent Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni Ethnic Armenian politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France