The former president of France, Valery Giscard, who became the 20th century’s youngest president at 48years in 1974 and a leading advocate of European integration that led his country into a modern era, has died of COVID-19.
The family of late Giscard, who died at the age of 94, stated that he has been hospitalized for months due to heart problems. Reports say he died late Wednesday “surrounded by his family” at the family home in Loire region.
According to a statement by the family, “His state of health had worsened and he died as a consequence of Covid-19,”
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, while paying tribute to his predecessor noted how Giscard’s 7 year term had “transformed France”. He added, “His death has plunged the French nation into mourning”.
Macron further described Giscard as “a servant of the state, a politician of progress and freedom”.
Before Giscard’s death, he made one of his public appearances on September 30th 2020 during the funeral of a former president, Jacques Chirac, who had been his prime minister.
Giscard is remembered in France for his radical reform drive which include the legalization of abortion, the liberalization of divorce and the lowering of the voting age to 18.
“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.
