1. Raymond Barre was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents.
19 Facts About Raymond Barre
1. 2.
Raymond Barre later served as Prime Minister under Valery Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981.
3.
Raymond Barre was born in Saint-Denis, on the French island of Reunion, and then still a colony.
4.
Raymond Barre stayed in Brussels until January 1973, serving in the Rey, Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions.
5.
Raymond Barre presented him to the French people as "the best economist in France".
6.
Raymond Barre left the ministry of Economy and Finance in 1978 but stayed as Prime minister until the defeat of Giscard d'Estaing at the 1981 presidential election.
7.
The first Barre plan emerged on 22 September 1976, with a priority to stop inflation.
8.
Raymond Barre did not use diplomatic language in the face of trade union opposition.
9.
Raymond Barre ran as UDF candidate for president in the 1988 election, but some components of his party covertly supported the other right-wing candidate, the Neo-Gaullist Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.
10.
In 1995, the RPR Mayor of Lyon, Michel Noir, could not compete for another term due to a judicial indictment, so Raymond Barre was the conservative candidate for the mayoralty.
11.
Raymond Barre was elected, but he did not run for a second term in 2001.
12.
Raymond Barre was probably the only French politician to have reached such high levels of responsibility without having ever been an official member or leader of any political party.
13.
Raymond Barre always kept some distance from what he considered to be the political "microcosm".
14.
Raymond Barre died on 25 August 2007 at age 83 at the Val-de-Grace military hospital in Paris, where he was being treated for heart problems since his transfer from a hospital in Monaco on 11 April 2007.
15.
On several occasions, Raymond Barre made remarks that were interpreted as antisemitic, or at least supportive of antisemitism.
16.
In 2007, Raymond Barre argued on a radio show that "the Jewish lobby" had orchestrated criticism regarding his 1980 remarks.
17.
On this same show, Raymond Barre defended the collaborationist Maurice Papon at his trial, describing him as "a scapegoat".
18.
Raymond Barre had been treated at a hospital for a heart condition since April 2007 when he died on 25 August 2007.
19.
Raymond Barre was survived by his wife and two sons.