Louis Le Pensec, former minister of François Mitterrand, died at 87 | EUROtoday

Former socialist minister Louis Le Pensec, a number of occasions minister underneath the presidency of François Mitterrand, died on the age of 87, introduced Wednesday January 10 the primary secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure.

“Louis Le Pensec has just left us. A man with solid convictions, a clear and frank outlook, an activist minister, he was a pillar of the socialist governments under François Mitterrand.writes Olivier Faure, paying tribute to a “man of dialogue”who had been “negotiator with Michel Rocard” of the Matignon agreements on New Caledonia, after a number of years of lethal violence within the archipelago.

Born on January 8, 1937 in Mellac (Finistère), a rural commune of which he was mayor for greater than 26 years, Louis Le Pensec was notably the primary “minister of the sea” in June 1981. But he “bows out”in line with his personal expression, when in 1983 François Mitterrand determined to carry the maritime affairs portfolio to the extent of state secretariat.

When the Socialists returned to energy in May 1988, Louis Le Pensec grew to become Minister of the Sea once more for just a few months, earlier than being entrusted with the French Overseas Territories by Prime Minister Michel Rocard. A place he held till the rout of the Socialists in March 1993. He then served as Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 1997 to 1998, within the authorities of Lionel Jospin.

Louis Le Pensec was a deputy for Finistère a number of occasions from 1973 to 1997, then senator from 1998 to 2008.

The seventh in a household of eight youngsters, Louis Le Pensec was the primary to review. Initially a instructor, he returned to his research and obtained a level in letters (sociology) and political financial system. He obtained diplomas from the Institute of Social Sciences of Labor and Business Administration earlier than becoming a member of SNECMA (aeronautics trade) then SAVIEM (vehicle).

This tall man (1m90) was nicknamed the “Great Louis”recalled the president of the Brittany area Loïg Chesnais-Girard (ex-PS), in a press launch. “Louis Le Pensec was one of those men who command respect and also pose as models (…) We all owe him something and his journey must continue to inspire us”.

“I knew “the great Louis” on the Ministry of Agriculture, he maintained rigor, respect and loyalty to his origins and the values ​​of the Republic all his life”, reacted on X the previous socialist minister of agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll. The first secretary of the Finistère PS and vice-president of Brest metropolis Tristan Foveau greeted him “a tutelary figure”, “one of the builders of Breton socialism”.