From a very young age, Mazarine Pingeot lived an extraordinary existence, hidden from view, hidden in an apartment in the heart of Paris. She is the daughter of Anne Pingeot and François Mitterrand, President of the French Republic between 1981 and 1995. During her adolescence, its existence remained secretfar from the gaze of the public and the media.
Mazarine Pingeot: an adolescence marked by secrecy and depression
In his new book 11 Quai Branly, available from this Wednesday, October 16, Mazarine Pingeot, now 49 years old, returns to this place full of memories and reveals her thoughts on this very special period.
As an isolated teenager, the latter often felt profound unease. At the age of 15, the teenager was struck by severe depression, which she described in strong words: “I was empty, cut off from all emotion.“
After separation: claustrophobia, an illness that persists
Mazarine Pingeot’s book is not limited to childhood memories. The writer also addresses more recent personal trials, such as her separation from Mohamed Ulad-Mohand, the director with whom she had three children. Since this breakup, a new anxiety has taken hold in his life: claustrophobia.
This irrational fear of confinement was triggered after the end of their relationship in 2014. The author now explains avoid elevators and panicking at the idea of being stuck on the subway. “The discomfort happened at a certain point in my life, when I separated from the father of my children. Things changed”confided Mazarine Pingeot during her interview with Paris Match.
A woman who continues to rebuild herself
In 11 Quai Branlythe daughter of the former President of the French Republic recounts with emotion the moments when she revisits this apartment that she never really considered home. This return to the past revives some of his old wounds, while highlighting the difficulty of facing unresolved trauma.
Today, Mazarine Pingeot has found a form of stability thanks to her family, her children and her marriage in 2017 to the diplomat Didier Le Bret. However, the writer remains marked by the tragedies of her past and this claustrophobia which does not leave her.
By agreeing to share her story, the mother reminds us to what extent the buried painseven those of adolescence, can influence our adult life. As for claustrophobia, this new evil in her life, she continues to manage it with caution, trying not to let this fear take over.
