Raymond Barre | |
---|---|
105th Prime Minister of France | |
In office 26 August 1976 – 22 May 1981 |
|
President | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
Preceded by | Jacques Chirac |
Succeeded by | Pierre Mauroy |
Mayor of Lyon | |
In office 1995–2001 |
|
Preceded by | Michel Noir |
Succeeded by | Gérard Collomb |
Minister of the Economy and Finance | |
In office 27 August 1976 – 5 April 1978 |
|
Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Fourcade |
Succeeded by | René Monory |
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs | |
In office 7 February 1967 – 5 January 1973 |
|
President |
Jean Rey Franco Maria Malfatti Sicco Mansholt |
Preceded by | Robert Marjolin |
Succeeded by | Wilhelm Haferkamp |
Personal details | |
Born |
St-Denis, France |
12 April 1924
Died | 25 August 2007 Paris, France |
(aged 83)
Political party |
Union for French Democracy (Before 1981) Independent (1981–2007) |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (French: [ʁɛmɔ̃ baʁ]; 12 April 1924 – 25 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three Presidents (Rey, Malfatti and Mansholt) and later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981. As a candidate for the presidency in 1988, he came in third and was eliminated in the first round. He was born in Saint-Denis, in the French island of Réunion, then still a colony (it became an overseas department in 1946).
After his education, Raymond Barre was professor of economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) as well as École Centrale Paris.
From 1959 to 1962, he was director of Jean-Marcel Jeanneney's staff, in the ministry of Industry and Trade. Then, in 1967, President Charles de Gaulle chose him as vice-president of the European Commission for Economic & Financial Affairs. He stayed in Brussels until January 1973, serving in the Rey, Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions. Having come back to France, he joined the cabinet as minister of the External Trade in January 1976.