After the death of the former President of the Republic, his tomb continues to attract the curious, his family to fascinate... and Bernadette is still there. Back to an extraordinary destiny.

Born November 29, 1932 and died September 26, 2019 in Paris, Jacques Chirac devoted his life to politics. Alternately Deputy of Corrèze, Mayor of Paris, Minister and Prime Minister, he rubbed shoulders with the highest spheres of the State very early on to finally become President of the French Republic from 1995 to 2007. But beyond the man political, we also retain a personality that was not trivial...

Jacques and Bernadette: the secrets of a marriage that lasted until death parted them

United in 1956, despite the disapproval of the Chodron de Courcel family (who hoped for Bernadette a more noble son-in-law), and despite numerous storms, the Chirac couple never divorced. In 2012, Bernadette confided to Télé-star her vision of a marriage that lasts: ' I belong to a generation where divorce was inadmissible . Today, the world has changed so much, women work, which has given them tremendous independence... including vis-à-vis men'. She also shares the secret of her couple's longevity. ' Every morning my husband says to me, ' You are so lucky to have married me '. And as long as he continues to do so, I'm happy because it means he's in good spirits'. What wisdom...

Who are Jacques Chirac's daughters?

Jacques Chirac had two daughters with his wife Bernadette: Laurence and Claude, then an adopted daughter, Anh-Dao Traxel. The death of his daughter Laurence, sick with anorexia, was one of the great dramas of his life. Claude was very present with her father, working directly with him. Finally, Anh-Dao had a bittersweet relationship and blamed the spouses for not truly integrating her into the family.

Love life: who were Jacques Chirac's mistresses?

Tactile, greedy, a bit dandy, Jacques Chirac has always appreciated the company of women..., Cultivating the art of kissing the hand and complimenting, the former head of state has transformed himself over the years into a seducer. Known for his taste for the fairer sex, has the man of power sometimes exceeded the rules of propriety? This is what Jean-Claude Laumond, his driver for almost three decades, implies in his book '25 years With Him'. 'Chirac had, to the point of disgust, the militants of the party, the secretaries of the organization, all those with whom he spent five minutes [...] coming down again with bright eyes and corkscrewed socks', writes- he. And Bernadette Chirac In all of this ? Maternal and benevolent, she did not get involved in her husband's extra-marital affairs. But that didn't stop her from seeing red a few times... even if it meant scolding her husband in public.

Where is Jacques Chirac buried?

Is the Montparnasse Cemetery , located Boulevard Edgar Quinet, in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, where Jacques Chirac rests, with no less than 320 stars : Serge Gainsbourg, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Baudelaire, Marguerite Duras, Eugène Carrière, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Philippe Noiret, George Wolinski, Mireille Darc... are buried there. Buried on September 29, 2019, the husband of Bernadette Chirac rests with their eldest daughter Laurence (deceased in 2016), under a gray, sober burial . The tombstone, in light marble and 'surmounted by a stele crowned with a cross', is rather sober and no epitaph or ornament appears on it. Only his name and two dates are inscribed on the stone. Onlookers and admirers of the politician regularly leave flowers and apples there , in reference to the phrase from the 1995 presidential campaign that has become cult 'Eat apples'. A mark of affection which again proves the immense popularity of Jacques Chirac with the French.

When and how did Jacques Chirac die?

Jacques Chirac died on September 26, 2019 at the age of 86 at his Parisian home on rue de Tournon, announced his son-in-law Frédéric Salat-Barroux, husband of Claude Chirac. 'President Jacques Chirac passed away this morning in the midst of his family. Peacefully,' he said. The last years of the life of the former President of the Republic were difficult. In September 2016, he was hospitalized at Pitié-Salpêtrière for a lung infection. In March 2019, a few months before his death, Le Monde reported on Jacques Chirac's state of health in a paper entitled 'Jean-Louis Debré and Jacques Chirac, friends for life'. Jean-Louis Debré, a faithful friend of the former President of the Republic, visited him regularly and described him as extremely weakened. 'I don't know if he recognizes me, I come out of it morally exhausted, it hurts me to see him like that, but I have the weakness to think that my presence does him good,' admitted the former minister. . According to his confidences, Jacques Chirac remained inert and silent in his armchair and the dialogue became 'impossible'. A few months ago, the two friends had watched a documentary devoted to George Pomipdou, where the husband of Bernadette Chirac appeared. Jean-Louis Debré had then launched to him: 'How beautiful you were!'. A statement followed by a disturbing reaction from the former President of the Republic. 'He looked at me blankly, I realized he didn't recognize himself,' his friend explained.

How did Jacques Chirac spend his last years?

Jacques Chirac's state of health had deteriorated over the years and the painful trials of life. After a stroke in 2005, Bernadette Chirac's husband was again struck by fate, even more violently, in April 2016: his daughter Laurence had just died at 58, following a heart attack. A terrible twist of fate that had weakened him. In his book 'Bernadette Chirac, the secrets of a conquest', Erwan L'Eléouet recounts the reaction of the former President of the Republic to the death of his daughter. At the time, Jacques Chirac, an already weakened octogenarian, 'for whom reality is an increasingly blurred notion', was then faced with an emotional shock. 'Jacques is taken to his apartment (that of his daughter). He stares at her. Big tears come flooding his dark eyes and lost in the vagueness. His pain is intense', we read. Jacqueline Habert, the mother of Claude Chirac's first husband, explains: 'He loved his daughter. Although ill, he realized that she was dead. He would not have been so sad if he had not understood that he had lost a loved one.'

Source journaldesfemmes.fr