Philippe de Villiers
| Philippe de Villiers | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the European Parliament for France | |
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In office 1994–2014 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 March 1949 (aged 67) Boulogne, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Political party | Movement for France |
| Spouse(s) | Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve |
| Children | Caroline Guillaume Nicolas Marie Laurent Bérengère Blanche |
| Religion | Traditionalist Roman Catholicism |
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (French: [filip də vilje]; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist. He is the founder of Puy du Fou, a theme park. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top two candidates advance to the second round of voting, he was eliminated from the race. Before and after the election, Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of Islam in France.
Villiers was born in Boulogne in the département of Vendée, France, the second of five children and first son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nancy, 14 November 1913) and wife Edwige d'Arexy (born Loire Atlantique, Nantes, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville on 17 October 1874, was killed in action in World War I at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt on 10 September 1914, and married on 24 October 1904 Jeanne de Saintignon (Auverre, 27 July 1880 – 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father Jacques.
He received a Master's Degree in Law in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973, and graduated from the National School of Administration in 1978. After university, Villiers became a successful entrepreneur. He created Puy du Fou, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history. The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a colosseum designed by Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome.
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