Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dies of Covid-19 | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
July 14, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JULY 14, 2025
Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dies of Covid-19

World+Biz

Reuters
03 December, 2020, 10:30 am
Last modified: 03 December, 2020, 10:41 am

Related News

  • French prisoner escapes in fellow inmate's luggage
  • Elon Musk's X platform probed in France for alleged data tampering and fraud
  • Political chaos leaves France sidelined as investors warm to Europe
  • France offers to help make Gaza food distribution safer
  • Le Pen's far-right French party rebuffed US offer of support: sources

Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing dies of Covid-19

He was a leading advocate of European integration who led his country into a new modern era

Reuters
03 December, 2020, 10:30 am
Last modified: 03 December, 2020, 10:41 am
Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing addresses the European Parliament during a ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the European Common Currency in Strasbourg, France January 13, 2009. REUTERSVincent Kessler
Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing addresses the European Parliament during a ceremony to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the European Common Currency in Strasbourg, France January 13, 2009. REUTERSVincent Kessler

Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, a leading advocate of European integration who led his country into a new modern era, has died of Covid-19, his family said. He was 94.

Giscard, who had been in hospital several times in recent months for heart problems, died late Wednesday "surrounded by his family" at the family home in the Loire region.

"His state of health had worsened and he died as a consequence of Covid-19," the family said in a statement sent to AFP, adding that his funeral would be strictly private, according to his wishes.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to his predecessor, saying Giscard's seven-year term had "transformed France".

"His death has plunged the French nation into mourning", Macron said, describing Giscard as "a servant of the state, a politician of progress and freedom".

Giscard made one of his last public appearances on September 30 last year for the funeral of another former president, Jacques Chirac, who had been his prime minister.

He became the 20th century's youngest president at 48 when in 1974 he beat his Socialist rival Francois Mitterrand, to whom he then lost after his seven-year term in 1981 in a failed re-election bid.

His presidency marked a clear break from the Gaullist conservatism of postwar France, which had been dominated by Charles de Gaulle and his successor Georges Pompidou.

In France, he is remembered for his radical reform drive, which included the legalisation of abortion, the liberalisation of divorce and the lowering of the voting age to 18.

In Europe, he helped drive moves towards a monetary union, in close cooperation with his German counterpart chancellor Helmut Schmidt, with whom he became friends and whose leadership years almost overlapped with his own.

Together they launched the European Monetary System (EMS), a precursor of today's single currency, the euro.

"For Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Europe was to be a French ambition and France a modern nation. Respect," said Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator.

He "succeeded in modernising political life in France," added former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, praising the "great intelligence" he used to master "even the most complex international problems".

Like Schmidt, Giscard was also a firm believer in strong ties with the US.

With his death, France "has lost a statesman who chose to open up to the world", added Sarkozy's Socialist successor Francois Hollande. He hailed a man who was "resolutely European" who helped strengthen Franco-German unity.

It was at Giscard's initiative that leaders of the world's richest countries first met in 1975, an event that evolved into the annual summits of the Group of Seven (G7) club.

'A Job Unfinished'

With a more relaxed presidential style than his predecessors, "VGE" was sometimes seen in public playing football or the accordion.

He also hosted garbage collectors to breakfast and invited himself to dinner at the homes of ordinary citizens.

Giscard involved his family in his political appearances, had the blue and red of France's "tricolore" flag toned down, and the Marseillaise national anthem slowed.

Giscard was firmly part of the elite.

Tall and slender and with an elegant, aristocratic manner, he studied at France's exclusive Ecole Polytechnique and the National Administration School.

Aged just 18, he joined the French resistance in World War II and took part in the liberation of Paris from its Nazi occupiers in 1944. He then served for eight months in Germany and Austria.

He launched his political career in 1959, becoming finance minister in 1969.

After his defeat in 1981 — which he said left him with "frustration at a job unfinished" — he remained active in centrist politics, first regaining a seat in the French parliament and then serving in the European Parliament.

In 2001, he was selected by European leaders to lead work on the bloc's constitutional treaty — which French voters then rejected.

After losing his legislative seat, he ended his active political career in 2004.

The death of Mitterrand in 1996 followed by that of his successor Chirac in 2019 had left Giscard as France's oldest surviving leader by far.

In May 2020, French prosecutors opened an investigation after claims by a German reporter that he had repeatedly inappropriately touched her at his Paris office after an interview in 2018.

But Giscard strongly denied the allegations, describing them as "grotesque".

Top News

Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing / France / Covid-19 Deaths

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • TBS Sketch
    Framework agreement: What experts say about US 'security concerns' regarding Bangladesh
  • Representational image. Photo: Mohammad Minhaj Uddin/TBS
    Navy-run Dry Dock takeover boosts Ctg Port container handling, daily avg up 7%
  • BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir speaks at a book unveiling event in Dhaka on 13 July 2025. Photo: Collected
    Fakhrul alleges conspiracy to eliminate Tarique from politics

MOST VIEWED

  • RAB Director General AKM Shahidur Rahman speaks at the press briefing on a fake bomb threat on Biman Bangladesh flight on Saturday, 12 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Mother faked bomb threat on Biman flight to stop married son from flying with girlfriend: RAB
  • Bangladeshi garment workers make clothing in the sewing section of a factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, April 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
    Some Walmart garment orders from Bangladesh on hold due to US tariff threat
  • Infographic: TBS
    Dollar price plummets by Tk2.9 in a week as demand wanes
  • From Gulf to Southeast Asia, why Bangladeshis are facing visa denials
    From Gulf to Southeast Asia, why Bangladeshis are facing visa denials
  • Bangladesh and US hold tariff talks on 11 July 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Dhaka, Washington yet to agree on 20% of US tariff conditions: BGMEA
  • Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan speaking about tariff negotiations with United States on 13 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    US wants a framework agreement with Bangladesh that includes their security concerns: Fouzul

Related News

  • French prisoner escapes in fellow inmate's luggage
  • Elon Musk's X platform probed in France for alleged data tampering and fraud
  • Political chaos leaves France sidelined as investors warm to Europe
  • France offers to help make Gaza food distribution safer
  • Le Pen's far-right French party rebuffed US offer of support: sources

Features

Photo: Collected

Grooming gadgets: Where sleek tools meet effortless styles

11h | Brands
The 2020 Harrier's Porsche Cayenne coupe-like rear roofline, integrated LED lighting with the Modellista special bodykit all around, and a swanky front grille scream OEM Plus for the sophisticated enthusiast looking for a bigger family car that isn’t boring. PHOTO: Ahbaar Mohammad

2020 Toyota Harrier Hybrid: The Japanese Macan

1d | Wheels
The showroom was launched through a lavish event held there, and in attendance were DHS Motors’ Managing Director Nafees Khundker, CEO Imran Zaman Khan, and GMs Arman Rashid and Farhan Samad. PHOTO: Akif Hamid

GAC inaugurate flagship showroom in Dhaka

1d | Wheels
After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

When the Threat Is Inside the White House

When the Threat Is Inside the White House

6h | Others
Shooting in Pallabi: What the police are saying

Shooting in Pallabi: What the police are saying

7h | TBS Stories
News of The Day, 13 JULY 2025

News of The Day, 13 JULY 2025

9h | TBS News of the day
Countries where Bangladeshis are not getting positive responses to their visa applications

Countries where Bangladeshis are not getting positive responses to their visa applications

8h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net