25 Facts About Christian Estrosi

Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi was born on 1 July 1955 and is a French sportsman and politician and the Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016.

Christian Estrosi is a former member of The Republicans, which he left in 2021 to join Horizons.

Christian Estrosi was a professional motorcycle racer and competed at the world championship level in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1976 to 1983.

Christian Estrosi won the French round of the 1976 Formula 750 season at the Circuit Paul Armagnac.

Christian Estrosi had a fourth-place finish in the 1978 500cc French Grand Prix.

Christian Estrosi repeated this result in 1979 with a fourth place at the 1979 250cc Spanish Grand Prix.

Christian Estrosi was a member of the municipal council of Nice from 1983 to 1990, when he resigned.

Christian Estrosi served as a member of the National Assembly of France for the 5th constituency of Alpes-Maritimes from 1988 to 1993, then from 1997 to 2005, from 2008 to 2009, then from 2010 to 2016.

Christian Estrosi was appointed on 2 June 2005 as Deputy Minister of Spatial Planning in the government of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, serving under Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy.

Christian Estrosi was then appointed on 19 June 2007 as Secretary of State for the Overseas French territories, this time serving under Michele Alliot-Marie.

Christian Estrosi was a regional councillor of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur from 1992 to 2002 and served as a regional council vice president from 1992 to 1998 under the presidency of Jean-Claude Gaudin.

Christian Estrosi later served as one of the vice presidents of the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes from 2001 to 2003 and as its president from 2003 to 2008.

Christian Estrosi was first elected a general councillor in the canton of Nice-8 in 1985.

Christian Estrosi was reelected to the municipal council of Nice in the 2008 election, when he was elected Mayor of Nice.

Amid the Fillon affair, in March 2017, Christian Estrosi joined Xavier Bertrand, Valerie Pecresse and others in calling for Alain Juppe to replace Francois Fillon as the party's candidate.

On 8 May 2017, the day after the second round of the presidential election, Christian Estrosi announced his resignation from the presidency of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur to become Mayor of Nice again, succeeding his former first deputy, Philippe Pradal.

Christian Estrosi is still managing the region as one of Regional Council President Renaud Muselier's vice presidents.

In 2021, Christian Estrosi left The Republicans to join Edouard Philippe's Horizons party, after Toulon Mayor Hubert Falco.

Christian Estrosi was among conservative politicians in France who backed calls for a ban on the body-covering burkini swimsuit that some Muslim women wear on the beach, which was later invalidated by French courts.

In 2017, Christian Estrosi distanced himself from his earlier decision to vote in favour of an unsuccessful 1988 bill on the reinstatement of the death penalty.

Christian Estrosi is the recipient of a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Haifa in Israel.

Christian Estrosi is a Knight of the Legion of Honour from the French Republic, an Officer of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and a Commander of the Order of Saint-Charles from Monaco.

In 2017, Christian Estrosi filed a defamation suit against Marine Le Pen for accusing him of being in league with Islamist militants; as a consequence, the European Parliament lifted Le Pen's immunity from prosecution.

Christian Estrosi was married to Dominique Sassone, daughter of Jean Sassone, who served as Deputy Mayor of Nice from 1977 to 1998.

Early on during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Christian Estrosi tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.