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Bertrand Delanoë |
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Bertrand Delanoë
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 Photo by Xavier Thomas |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 25 March 2001 |
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| Preceded by | Jean Tiberi |
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Senator for Paris
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| In office 24 September 1995 – 27 March 2001 |
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| In office 21 June 1981 – 1 April 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Joël Le Tac |
| Succeeded by | Alain Juppé |
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| Born | 30 May 1950 Tunis, French Tunisia  |
| Nationality | French  |
| Political party | French Socialist Party |
| Website | http://bertranddelanoe.net/ |
Bertrand Delanoë (born 30 May 1950) /bɛʁtʁɑ̃ dəlanɔe/ (pronunciation ) is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is from the French Socialist Party. He is considered to be a potential candidate for President of the French Republic in 2012.
Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother. He moved to France with his family in his teens.
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Bertrand Delanoë was born 30 May 1950 in Tunis, to an atheist father (a land surveyor) and a Roman Catholic mother (a nurse). 1 At 6 years old, Delanoë became a member of the "Petits Chanteurs des Sables", a choral group associated with the Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois.2
At the age of 11, Delanoë witnessed the battle of Bizerte3.
After the military base was closed in 1963, Delanoë's family broke up. His mother came to live in Rodez (Aveyron), with her son. After leaving school, Delanoë is said to have started studies in law at the University of Toulouse. The Who's Who in French lists him as having a diploma in economics 4.
Delanoë has been involved in politics since the age of twenty-three as the secretary of the Socialist federation in Aveyron.
He was first elected to the Paris city council in 1977. In 1993, he became the head of the city's Socialist Party.
In 1995, he was elected to the French Senate, where he was secretary of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense.
Delanoë has been mayor of Paris since 18 March 2001, when control of the city council was won by a left-wing alliance for the first time since the 1871 Paris Commune. His predecessors were Jean Tiberi (1995–2001), and Jacques Chirac (1977–95), who resigned after 18 years as mayor when he was elected president of France.
Delanoë won the mayorship of Paris, at the head of a coalition of Socialists, Greens and Communists, over the conservative candidates Jean Tiberi and Philippe Séguin, who were unable to resolve their differences and thereby split the conservative vote. This success in a city which has traditionally been a stronghold of the right was made all the more striking by setbacks to the Left in the 2001 elections that occurred more generally — has been partially attributed with the weariness of the Parisian public with respect to various scandals of corruption and graft in the preceding administrations (see corruption scandals in the Paris region).
Delanoë was virtually unknown before the election of 2001, but soon gained notoriety for organising new and unusual events in Paris, such as the "Paris Beach" (Paris Plage) on the banks of the Seine every summer in order to give Parisians who could not take a regular vacation a chance to relax, sunbathe and build sandcastles in the center of Paris. The program, especially popular with families with children, has been in place since 2002, and has since been copied by many other international cities.
Since becoming mayor, Delanoë's goals have been to improve the quality of life, reduce pollution, and cut down on vehicle traffic within the city (including a plan for a non-polluting tramway to ease Parisian traffic) and pedestrian malls. Recently he has helped introduce a new program called Vélib' (a portmanteau of “vélo" and "libre” meaning "free bicycles") which gives Parisians access to inexpensive rental bicycles which are available in stations all around Paris. The program has been enormously successful despite the fact that it still has a few logistical problems to be worked out.5 He has outlined a plan for an autolib, whereby small cars would be shared. 6
He was reelected in 2008 (57.7%) for a new six-year-term (2008-2014).
He was stabbed on 5 October 2002 during the Nuit Blanche, a night of festivities in Paris, while mingling with the public. His assailant, Azedine Berkane, reportedly told police that "he hated politicians, the Socialist Party, and the homosexuals". Before being taken to hospital, Delanoë ordered that the festivities continue. Delanoë's wound was reported not to be life-threatening and he left the hospital after about two weeks.7 Azedine Berkane was eventually permitted to leave the psychiatric hospital where he had been a patient after his doctors no longer considered him a threat. However, in early April, 2007, he failed to keep a scheduled appointment with his doctors, and has not been seen since.8
The failure to secure the 2012 Summer Olympics for Paris on 6 July 2005 was Delanoë's first major setback as mayor. In the aftermath of the defeat in his Olympic bid, he accused British prime minister Tony Blair of unduly influencing the result in order to secure the games in London. However, Bertrand Delanoë's popularity in fact rose during July 2005 9. The French public appeared to have laid more of the blame on President Jacques Chirac, who allegedly said that "the only worse food than British food is Finnish" and "the only thing the British have done for Europe's agriculture is mad cow disease", which may have offended two Finnish members of the International Olympic Committee.
Delanoë may consider challenging current president Sarkozy in the Presidential election in 2012. However before then, he likely would need to win the battle to become First Secretary of the Socialist Party. He is currently running against Ségolène Royal for that position, and the election is due to take place on November 6th, 2008. 10
Delanoë was one of the first major French politicians to announce that he was gay, during a 1998 television interview (before being elected mayor).1112 His election made Paris the world's largest city with an openly LGBT mayor, followed by Berlin whose mayor is Klaus Wowereit (the third largest is Hamburg with Ole von Beust). All three have taken office since 2001; previously, the largest city with an LGBT mayor had been Winnipeg, Canada, with foremerly the mayor Glen Murray, (1998-2004).
Delanoë is not known for taking an active part in the gay and lesbian community, but he has helped end discrimination in municipal subsidies to civic groups. Political opponents arguecitation needed though that such choices are just a new example of clientelism.
| Preceded by Jean Tiberi |
Mayor of Paris 2001– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Delanoë, Bertrand |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | French politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 30 May 1950 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tunis, Tunisia |
| DATE OF DEATH | living |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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