Pierre-René Lemas (born 23 February 1951 in
French Algeria
French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...
) is a French civil servant. He served as the Chief of Staff of the
French President,
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 ...
from 2012 to 2014. He has served as the Chairman of the
Caisse des dépôts et consignations since 2014.
Early life
Pierre-René Lemas was born on February 23, 1951, in
Algiers
Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...
,
French Algeria
French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...
.
[Jean-Marc Leclerc]
Pierre-René Lemas, futur pivot de la présidence Hollande
''Le Figaro
() is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'', May 7, 2012[Ariane Chemin, 'Pierre-René Lemas, Un préfet à l'Elysée', '']Le Monde
(; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'', May 6, 2012 His parents were
Pied-Noir
The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...
s.
His father was a lawyer.
His uncle was a journalist for
France Inter
France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France.
It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...
.
Lemas graduated from
Sciences Po
Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
and the
École nationale d'administration
The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...
.
At the ENA, his coursemates included future
President of France
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 po ...
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 ...
, but also
Ségolène Royal
Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...
,
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 ...
,
Michel Sapin,
Jean-Pierre Jouyet and
Henri de Castries.
Career
Lemas started his career in the cabinet of the
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 ...
,
Gaston Defferre
Gaston Defferre (14 September 1910 – 7 May 1986) was a French Socialist politician. He served as mayor of Marseille for 33 years until his death in 1986. He was minister for overseas territories in Guy Mollet’s socialist government in 1956 ...
, in 1981.
In 1985, he worked in the cabinet of
Pierre Joxe, focusing on
decentralisation
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
.
He then served as the
Cabinet Secretary
A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...
to
Jean-Michel Boucheron and later
Jean-Michel Baylet.
In 1988, he worked in Pierre Foxe's cabinet again, and later served as under-secretary to the
.
Lemas served as the
Prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect' ...
of
Corsica
Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
from 2003 to 2006.
During that time, shots were fired at his office to intimidate him.
Lemas served as the Cabinet Secretary to
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
Jean-Pierre Bel in 2011.
[Sénat : Lemas président du cabinet de Bel](_blank)
''Europe 1
Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...
'', October 14, 2011 He served as the Chief of Staff under President François Hollande from 2012 to 2014.
He was replaced by in 2014.
[Anne Michel, Cédric Pietralunga et Thomas Wieder]
Jean-Pierre Jouyet nommé secrétaire général de l'Elysée
''Le Monde'', April 9, 2014
Since 2014, he has served as the Chairman of the
Caisse des dépôts et consignations.
[Caisse des dépôts et consignations: Appointment of Pierre-René Lemas](_blank)
/ref>
References
1951 births
Living people
People from Algiers
Lycée Henri-IV alumni
Sciences Po alumni
École nationale d'administration alumni
Pieds-noirs
Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite
Officers of the Legion of Honour
{{Corsica-politician-stub