Jean-Claude Gaudin had come to epitomize Marseille, like his role model Gaston Defferre, the southern port city's former mayor, before him. He died on Monday, May 20, aged 84. French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to him, describing him as "Marseille made a man" on X.
Elected mayor of his hometown four times without interruption from June 1995 to July 2020, the leader of Marseille's conservatives did not beat the longevity record of his Socialist elder (25 years in office versus 34), but he also served in both houses of Parliament, as president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regional council, and then of the nascent Aix-Marseille-Provence council from March 2016 to September 2018. He left his mark on regional politics over half a century like no other elected official.
Under his authority, the right patiently conquered and retained all local offices. The total hegemony did not prevent Gaudin's fourth and final term from being highly contested. The death of eight people on November 5, 2018, when two buildings collapsed in the heart of Marseille, revealed the failure of his municipal policy in the fight against substandard housing and sparked violent protests. This tragedy is one of the factors behind Marseille's swing to the left in July 2020 and the defeat of Martine Vassal, the Les Républicains (right, LR) candidate supported by Gaudin. Attached to republican symbols, he personally handed over the mayoral sash to the environmentalist Michèle Rubirola, who succeeded him at the head of a left-wing coalition. "In politics, you have to know how to lose," he said at the time.
A fixture in his hometown, Gaudin also enjoyed a major national political career, as a leading figure of the French right since the mid-1980s. He was minister for regional planning, cities and integration in Alain Juppé's second government (November 1995-September 1997) and served four terms for a total of 28 years in the Sénat, ultimately becoming its first vice president (2014-2017). His great political regret was to have failed to become president of the upper house of Parliament.
Jean-Claude Gaudin was born on October 8, 1939, in Mazargues, in southern Marseille. The working-class district, where he kept a family home all his life, is still a veritable Provençal countryside surrounded by fields. It was here that he attended the Saint-Roch church and acquired his accent and his taste for local traditions.
His father was a mason and a member of the Mouvement Républicain Populaire (MRP), a Christian democrat party. His mother was a shoe cobbler. Like many from his region, the Gaudins also rented a cottage in the Calanque de Sormiou, where young Jean-Claude spent his summers. He would later become mayor and minister, guiding Jacques Chirac and other big names in French politics through this natural setting.
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