Léon Bertrand (born 11 May 1951) is a French

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Previously a professor of

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, he was

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (, ; ) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is one of the three sub-prefectures of French Guiana and the seat of the Arrondissement ...

from 1983 until 2018. He was elected to the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

for the

Rally for the Republic The Rally for the Republic ( ; 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 and presented itself as the heir of Gaul ...

representing French Guiana's 2nd constituency in 1988 and was reelected at every election till 2007.

Biography

He described himself in an article published in the French daily

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

when he was a minister, in 2005: "''Born on the banks of the

Maroni River The Maroni () or Marowijne (; ) is a river in South America that forms the border between French Guiana and Suriname. Course The Maroni runs through the Guianan moist forests ecoregion. It originates in the Tumuk Humak Mountains and forms ...

, in Guyana, a French département in

Amazonia The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses , of which are covered by the rainf ...

situated 7,000 km afar from Paris, grandson of a convict from

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se mother, I am Léon Bertrand, with a name typically French but with a physical appearance typically exotic.''"
La République, l'affaire de tous. Les violences en banlieue ne doivent pas être traitées comme de simples problèmes d'ordre public.

, 17 November 2005 He joined the UMP in 2002, and, as a known confidant of President

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 ...

, he was named Secretary of State for Tourism in 2002 and later Delegate Minister for Tourism in 2004. He held this office until 15 May 2007. When he was a minister, he realized that "''several times, when I received in my office people who didn't know my physical appearance, their republican respectful «Monsieur le ministre» was automatically addressed to my advisor, who was white, and not to me. But what's for me quite exceptional and has very minor consequences as a public person is, on the contrary, the daily lot of all those who belong to what people label «

Visible minority In Canada, a visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada ...

»''." Running for re-election as deputy in the

2007 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including Fran ...

, he was surprisingly defeated with 47.1% of the votes in the runoff against Chantal Berthelot ( PSG), who won 52.9%. Nonetheless, he was re-elected

in 2008 by a large margin. He was nominated as the UMP's top candidate in the 2010 regional elections in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

. During the night of 27–28 November 2009, Léon Bertrand was arrested and put into custody on charges of favoritism and corruption. Despite still being in custody, he is candidate on the third place of a right wing list not endorsed by the UMP for the March 2010 regional elections in French Guiana. In 2013, he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.

Political career

* 1983-2018 :

* 2001- : President of the Community of Communes of Western Guiana. * 1982-1988: General Councillor of French Guiana, canton of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni * 1983-2003: Regional Councillor of French Guiana * 1988-2007: RPR and then UMP-aligned Député of the Second Circumscription of French Guiana * 2002-2004: Secretary of State for Tourism, responsible to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism and Sea * 2004-2007: Delegate Minister for Tourism, responsible to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism and Sea

Sources

External links

page on the French National Assembly website
Berliner Zeitung vom 19./20. November 2005 (German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, Leon 1951 births Living people French Guianan people of indigenous peoples descent French Guianan people of Surinamese descent Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians Government ministers of France Mayors of places in French Guiana French people of French Guianan descent People from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Black French politicians Members of Parliament for French Guiana French politicians convicted of corruption