Valery Giscard D'Estaing,
the son of a French civil servant serving with the occupying forces
after the First World War, was born in Germany
on 2nd February 1926. Educated in Paris he joined the French
Resistance
during the Second World War, for which he was
awarded the Croix
de Guerre.
After completing his studies
at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration
he joined the Inspection Générale des Finances in 1952.
Four years later he was appointed Deputy Director to the Office of
the Minister of Finance.
In 1956 Giscard D'Estaing
was elected to the National Assembly and served as Secretary of State
for Finance (1959-1962). Other posts include Minister of Finance and
Economic Affairs (1962-1966 and 1969-1974) and Mayor of Chamalières
(1967-1974). Although he served under Charles
De Gaulle he
remained outside the Gaullist movement.
In 1974 Giscard D'Estaing
defeated Francois
Mitterrand to
became President of France. A strong supporter
of the European
Economic Community,
while in office he played a crucial role in several international
initiatives including the creation of the European Council, the European
Monetary System, the Disarmament Institute and the North-South Conference.
Other reforms introduced
by Giscard D'Estaing included divorce and abortion law reform, reduction
of the voting age to eighteen. During his period in office the French
economy performed badly and was defeated by Francois
Mitterrand in
the 1981 presidential elections. He returned to the National Assembly
and became one of the leaders of the centre-right group, Union for
French Democracy.
Giscard D'Estaing served
as President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs (1987-1989) and
as a member of the European Parliament (1989-1993). He returned to
the National Assembly in 1993 and once again became President of the
Commission of Foreign Affairs (1993-1997).
In December 2001, Giscard
D'Estaing was appointed by the European Council as Chairman of the
Convention on the Future of Europe.
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