Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as
Mayor of Paris
The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France.
The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...
from 2001 to 2014. A member of the
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
(PS), he previously served 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 repr ...
from 1981 to 1986 and in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
from 1995 until 2001.
Early life and education
Delanoë was born 30 May 1950 in
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, at that time a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
of the
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas Colony, colonies, protectorates, and League of Nations mandate, mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "Firs ...
, to a French mother and a
French-Tunisian father. His father, a
land surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
, was atheist while his mother, a nurse, was
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
.
At 6 years old, Delanoë became a member of the "Petits Chanteurs des Sables", a Christian choral group associated with the
Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois. At the age of 11, Delanoë witnessed the
crisis of Bizerte between France and newly independent Tunisia. Bertrand Delanoë moved back to France with his family following
Tunisian independence
Tunisian independence was a process that occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and an independence movement, led by Habib Bourguiba. He became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia after negotiations with France successfully bro ...
; after the military base in Bizerte was closed in 1963, Delanoë's family broke up. His mother came to live in
Rodez
Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...
,
Aveyron
Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...
with her son. After leaving school, Delanoë is said to have started studies in law at the
University of Toulouse
The University of Toulouse (, ) is a community of universities and establishments ( ComUE) based in Toulouse, France. Originally it was established in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the ...
. According to ''
Who's Who in France
The pronoun ''who'', in English, is an interrogative pronoun and a relative pronoun, used primarily to refer to persons.
Unmarked, ''who'' is the pronoun's subjective form; its inflected forms are the objective ''whom'' and the possessive ...
'' he has a diploma in economics.
Career
Early political career
Delanoë has been involved in politics since the age of twenty-three as the secretary of the Socialist federation in
Aveyron
Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...
.
He was first elected to the
Council of Paris
The Council of Paris ( French: ''Conseil de Paris'', ) is the deliberative body responsible for governing Paris, the capital of France. It possesses both the powers of a municipal council (''conseil municipal'') and those of a departmental co ...
in 1977. In 1981, he was elected to the National Assembly. In 1993, he became the head of the city's Socialist Party branch. In 1995, he was elected to the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, where he was secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence.
Mayor of Paris
Delanoë became
Mayor of Paris
The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France.
The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...
on 18 March 2001, when control of the Council of Paris was won by a left-wing alliance for the first time since 1977 (election with universal suffrage). His predecessors were
Jean Tiberi
Jean Tiberi (; 30 January 1935 – 27 May 2025) was a French politician who served as mayor of Paris from 1995 to 2001. (1995–2001) and
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
(1977–1995), who resigned after 18 years as mayor when he was elected
President of the French Republic
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is the supreme magistracy of the country, the pos ...
.
Delanoë won the mayorship of Paris at the head of a coalition of
Socialists
Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...
,
Greens and
Communists
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...
, over the conservative candidates
Jean Tiberi
Jean Tiberi (; 30 January 1935 – 27 May 2025) was a French politician who served as mayor of Paris from 1995 to 2001. and
Philippe Séguin
Philippe Séguin (; 21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010.
He entered the Court of Financ ...
, who were unable to resolve their differences and thereby split the conservative vote. This success in a city which had traditionally been a stronghold of the right until the end of the 20th century was made all the more striking by setbacks to the left in the
2001 municipal elections that occurred more generally. It has been partially attributed with the weariness of the Parisian public with respect to
various scandals of corruption and
graft
Graft or grafting may refer to:
*Graft (politics), a form of political corruption
*Graft, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Graft-De Rijp
Science and technology
*Graft (surgery), a surgical procedure
*Grafting, the joining of plant ti ...
in the preceding administrations.
Delanoë was virtually unknown before the election of 2001, but soon gained fame for organising new and unusual events in Paris, such as the "Paris Beach" (''
Paris-Plages'') on the banks of the
Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...
every summer in order to give Parisians who could not take a regular vacation a chance to relax,
sunbathe and build
sandcastles in the center of Paris. The program, especially popular with
families
Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
with children, has been in place since 2002, and has since been copied by many other international cities.
As mayor, Delanoë's goals were to improve the
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
, reduce pollution, and cut down on
vehicle traffic within the city (including a plan for a non-polluting tramway to ease Parisian traffic) and
pedestrian mall
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
s. He helped introduce a program called
Vélib'
is a large-scale public bicycle sharing system in Paris, France. The system encompasses more than 16,000 bikes and 1,400 stations. The name ''Vélib is a portmanteau of the French words ''vélo'' (''"bicycle"'') and ''liberté'' ("freedom"). ...
(a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. of "vélo" and "libre" meaning "
free bicycles") which gave Parisians access to inexpensive rental bicycles available in stations all around Paris. The program has been enormously successful despite the fact that it still has a few
logistical problems to be worked out. He outlined a plan for an autolib, whereby small cars would be shared.
He was
reelected in 2008 (57.7%) for a new six-year-term (2008–2014).
Ahead of the Socialist Party's
2008 convention in Reims, Delanoë publicly endorsed
Martine Aubry
Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...
as candidate to succeed
François Hollande
François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...
at the party's leadership.
In 2009, Delanoë criticized statements by Pope
Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...
about how condom use was unhelpful or even counter-productive in the fight against AIDS.
Ahead of the Socialist Party's
2012 convention in Toulouse, Delanoë endorsed
Harlem Désir
Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir (; born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who served as leader of the Socialist Party (PS) from 2012 to 2014.
First widely known as a community activist and as the first president of SOS Racisme in the 1980s, ...
as candidate to succeed Aubry at the party's leadership.
Assassination attempt
Delanoë was stabbed on 5 October 2002 during the ''
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche () (White Night) is an annual all-night or night-time arts festival of a city. A Nuit Blanche typically has museums, private and public art galleries, and other cultural institutions open and free of charge, with the centre of the ...
'', a night of festivities in Paris, while mingling with the public. His assailant was a Muslim immigrant, Azedine Berkane, who reportedly told police that "he hated politicians, the Socialist Party, and homosexuals." Before being taken to hospital, Delanoë ordered that the festivities continue. Delanoë's wound was not life-threatening and he left the hospital after about two weeks.
Azedine Berkane was eventually permitted to leave the
psychiatric hospital
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...
where he had been a patient after his doctors no longer considered him a threat. However, in early April 2007, he failed to keep a scheduled appointment with his doctors. Paris police recaptured him on May 22. He was returned to the psychiatric facility and placed into a high-security unit.
Olympic bid
The failure to secure the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
for Paris on 6 July 2005 was Delanoë's first major setback as mayor. In the aftermath of the defeat in his Olympic bid, he accused British prime minister
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
of unduly influencing the result in order to secure the games in London. However, Delanoë's popularity in fact rose during July 2005. The French public appeared to have laid more of the blame on President Jacques Chirac, who allegedly said that "the only worse food than British food is Finnish" which is widely believed to have offended two Finnish members of the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
.
Potential presidential bid
Delanoë was said to be considering challenging then-current president Sarkozy in the
Presidential election in 2012. However, this plan suffered a setback in November 2008 when he lost the race for the party leadership to
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
mayor
Martine Aubry
Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor (France), M ...
.
Fake ''The New York Times'' letter
On 22 December 2008, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' published a letter attributed to Delanoë criticizing
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, diplomat, and attorney who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia, United States ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024. She previously serv ...
's candidacy for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
seat vacated by
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. The newspaper later admitted that the letter, which had been sent by email, had not been properly verified, and was a fake.
Personal life
Delanoë was one of the first major French politicians to announce that he was gay, during a 1998 television interview (before being elected mayor).
Although a long-time politician, Delanoë is visible at cultural affairs. He attends film festivals, and he is sometimes quoted in the media or appears on television to speak about his friendship with the late French superstar entertainer,
Dalida
Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (; 17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), professionally known as Dalida (, ; ), was an Italian naturalized French singer and actress. Leading an international career, Dalida has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Some ...
.
Electoral mandates
''National Assembly of France''
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 repr ...
for Paris (): 1981–1986. Elected in 1981.
''Senate of France''
Member of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for Paris: 1995–2001 (resignation).
''Council of Paris''
Mayor of Paris: Elected in 2001. Reelected in 2008.
Councillor of Paris: Elected in 1977. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2008.
See also
*
List of mayors of Paris
*
LGBT culture in Paris
Paris, the capital of France, has an active LGBTQ community. In the 1990s, 46% of the country's gay men lived in the city. As of 2004, Paris had 140 LGBT bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, shops, and other commercial businesses. Florence Tamagne, ...
References
External links
Bertrand Delanoë's web siteThe Mayor of Paris, from www.paris.frBBC report on stabbing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delanoe, Bertrand
1950 births
20th-century French politicians
21st-century mayors of places in France
French gay politicians
French LGBTQ rights activists
LGBTQ mayors of places in France
Living people
Politicians from Tunis
Mayors of Paris
Socialist Party (France) politicians
Senators of Paris
French senators of the Fifth Republic
Toulouse 1 University Capitole alumni
LGBTQ legislators in France
20th-century French LGBTQ people
21st-century French LGBTQ people