Gérard Collomb's daughter pays tribute to her father, one year after his death

This Monday, November 25 marks the first anniversary of the death of the former mayor of Lyon. One of his daughters, now 20 years old, talks about her daily life with a father who dedicated his life to politics.

A mayor, a minister… and a father. This Monday, November 25, marks the first anniversary of the death of Gérard Collomb, who was head of Lyon town hall for 20 years. On this occasion, his daughter, Clémence Collomb, tells BFM Lyon about daily life with a father that she and her sister were forced to share, first with the people of Lyon, then with the whole of France when Gérard Collomb made a stint at the Ministry of the Interior.

“He had found a fair balance. He was strict, especially regarding our academic results. He asked us every evening if we had gotten grades, even when he was Minister of the Interior,” says Clémence Collomb on the set of BFM Lyon. “He called us every evening. It was one of the last things he said to us before leaving: 'work at school, girls'.”

“It was hard for us”

With her sister Camille, Clémence Collomb had to share her father with the rest of France, Gérard Collomb having been Minister of the Interior between 2017 and 2018.

“It was a chance, because I realize with hindsight everything I was able to experience thanks to him. The electoral campaigns, discovering the Ministry of the Interior, traveling with him,” says the young woman. “But it was complicated too. (…) Political life impacted our family life. It was hard for us. The times we spent with him as a family were no longer the same.”

The young woman herself faced difficulties when she had to hear criticism of her father's policies.

“I was young, I was 14. I didn't understand what he was accused of. He was criticized a lot because he came back to Lyon at the weekend to see us. And yet, he wasn't never really fully available to us. He spent a lot of time on the phone, he worked and it really saddened me. I saw him very affected by these criticisms.

Despite this complicated relationship with politics, it is nevertheless an area towards which Clémence Collomb is turning today. “When I was little I told myself that I would never get involved in politics. But today, when I am with my friends, I can't help but talk about politics. I want to get involved, but in a reasonable way, because I also know what politics has made me lose.”

Father and politician, “the same person”

The announcement in 2022 of Gérard Collomb's cancer marked a turning point for his family life, to which he then wanted to devote more time.

“He said it was the summer of the resurrection. (…) We went on vacation, and there I found my dad as I had known him before. The vacation was a break for It did us a lot of good. These are emotional and happy memories.”

Today she remembers a “very loving, very attentive” father. “He always brought us something from his travels. A pen, a magnet… He was always thinking of us.” Difficult for Clémence Collomb to differentiate her father from the politician. “For me, he was the same person, at home and outside.”

The funeral of Gérard Collomb took place on November 29, 2023 in Saint-Jean Cathedral, a “timeless moment” for the daughters of the former mayor. “It was a public tribute, but also a private one for us,” says Clémence Collomb, who still remembers the crowd who came to pay tribute to her father.

“They paid tribute to the statesman but also to the man he was. Politics was his whole life,” she concludes.