Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron (; née Brigitte Trogneux , previously Auzière ; born 13 April 1953) is a French former educator. She is the wife and former teacher of Emmanuel Macron, who is the current
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 ...
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, France. She is the youngest of six children of Simone (''née'' Pujol; 1910–1998) and Jean Trogneux (1909–1994), the owners of the five-generation
Chocolaterie
A chocolaterie is a type of business which both manufactures chocolate confections and sells them, at the same location. It is usually a small family business, often operating at only one location. The word is of French origin, and shops named a ...
Trogneux, founded in 1872 in Amiens. The company, now known as Jean Trogneux, is run by her nephew, Jean-Alexandre Trogneux.
Career
Macron, at the time Brigitte Auzière, taught literature at the Collège Lucie-Berger in Strasbourg in the 1980s. By the 1990s, she was teaching French and Latin at Lycée la Providence, a Jesuit high school in
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
16th arrondissement
The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''.
The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...
of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
, one of the most prestigious French private schools. At that institution, she was the French teacher of Frédéric and Jean Arnault, sons of French luxury business tycoon
Bernard Arnault
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury ...
.
It was at Lycée la Providence that she and Emmanuel Macron first met. He attended her literature classes, and she was in charge of the theatre class that he attended. Their relationship has attracted controversy, as she is his senior by close to 25 years, and Macron has described it as "a love often clandestine, often hidden, misunderstood by many before imposing itself".
Politics
In 1989, Brigitte Macron (then Auzière) unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the city council of
Truchtersheim
Truchtersheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was the only time she ran for office.
In 2017, Brigitte Macron played an active role in her husband's presidential campaign; a top adviser was quoted as saying that "her presence is essential for him". During his campaign, Emmanuel Macron stated that upon his winning of the
French presidency
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 is ...
, his wife would "have the role that she always had with im she will not be hidden".
He proposed creating an official " first lady" () title (as the spouse of the French president currently holds no official title) coming with their own staff, office and a personally allocated budget for their activities. Following Macron's election as president and his previously outspoken stance against nepotism, a
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...
against his proposal gathered more than 275,000 signatures, and the
French government
The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...
announced that Brigitte Macron would not hold the official title of "first lady" and would not be allocated an official budget. In an interview with French magazine ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'', she stated that a soon-to-be published transparency charter would clarify her "role and accompanying resources", including the composition and size of her staff.
Personal life
On 22 June 1974, Brigitte married banker André-Louis Auzière, with whom she had three children (Sébastien, born 1975;
Laurence
Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...
, born 1977; and Tiphaine, born 1984). They resided in
Truchtersheim
Truchtersheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In 1993, at the age of 40, she met the 15-year-old Emmanuel Macron in
La Providence High School
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
where she was a teacher and he was a student and a classmate of her daughter
Laurence
Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...
. She divorced Auzière in January 2006 and married Macron in October 2007. She has seven grandchildren.
Macron caught
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 quickly ...
over Christmas 2020, her office said on 9 January 2021, confirming press reports. She tested positive on 24 December 2020 but exhibited only light symptoms and tested negative six days later. During that period, she stayed at the official presidential residence, the Élysée Palace, while the president worked at another residence outside Paris. Her office said the information regarding her condition was not made public at the time as it had no impact on her public agenda. She had since made a full recovery, they added.
Brigitte
Brigitte is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Brigitte Amm, German rower
* Brigitte Bardot (born 1934), a French actress and singer
* Brigitte Becue (born 1972), a Belgian breaststroke swimmer
* Brigitte Bierlein (bo ...