Third wife of Jacques Chaban-Delmas, the historic mayor of Bordeaux who died on November 10, 2000, Micheline made her official entry into the Palais-Rohan on October 8, 1971, after having made a first appearance there, on September 24, to marry in full discretion the historic mayor of Bordeaux.
The latter had presented it to the municipal councilors and their wives, as well as to Mrs. and Mr. Gabriel Delaunay, prefect of Aquitaine, and to the main collaborators of the municipality, after having received the Bordeaux press. “Everyone was able to appreciate the kindness and simplicity of Ms. Chaban-Delmas, who has the great desire to better know our city, which she wants to fully discover,” wrote “Sud Ouest” the next day.
Micheline Chaban-Delmas made her official entry into the Palais-Rohan on October 8, 1971.
South West Archives
“Madame”
The one called “Madame” at the town hall will not appear anywhere in the power structure, but she will be tacitly in charge of certain cultural affairs (the CAPC) or charitable affairs, and it is she who, in 1991, will be at the origin of the appointment to the cabinet of three women: Martine Noverraz, in charge of communications; Francine Fort, head of architecture and town planning; and Josy Froment, for the promotion and image of the city, as mentioned by “Sud Ouest”, in the article entitled “Who governs today? “ on the eve of the municipal elections of 1995, which will see Alain Juppé succeed Chaban.
At the forefront of the major causes in which Micheline Chaban-Delmas was committed: the fight against drugs. Within the Fondation de France, she created the Addiction and Youth Prevention foundation, which she chaired. On March 14, 1987, she explained to our health journalist Annie Larraneta how the fight against this scourge should be organized, upstream, to prevent, and downstream, to cure. We are republishing this interview below.
“Drug addiction: prevention and cure”
A friend of my children died of an overdose. He sometimes came to our house, the house was always “open doors”. I had a feeling there was something wrong. There was a sort of breakdown in dialogue, he probably called me, I don’t know. Had I heard them I would not have known how to answer them…”
Inform and train
As she had a little time and “no right to lose interest in the issue”, Micheline Chaban-Delmas has since sought to help families and children. In January 1980, she created the Toxicomania and Prevention foundation within the Fondation de France. In particular, training courses are organized and information is provided… so that relay adults can understand the “calls” and become prevention agents. “If certain basic elements recur all the time,” explains Micheline Chaban-Delmas, “drug problems are constantly changing and evolving and we must modify our assessments of beings and things. We must remain completely open and attentive. Each of the young drug addicts has their own story and a particular relationship with society. We cannot generalize, it is piecemeal. Of course, we find the breakdown in dialogue but not only with parents… This dialogue is so difficult that we must help parents to maintain it. Drugs are a total family tragedy, the whole family is affected. »
To act upstream, you must inform. “We must therefore provide the most “objective” information possible to anyone who asks for it. If we imposed it, it could be misinterpreted, badly experienced. And I believe, of course, in training. This is a very particular field, it requires a kind of education for all those in contact with young people. So, we organize courses with real specialists and we help those who want to follow them and for whom it may be expensive. Then, they will know how to respond and warn. You know that we have a pilot team in Bordeaux, around Doctor Damade, director of the Center for the Study and Information on Drugs. »
In the company
It is he who will host, Monday at 5 p.m., at the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry (17, place de la Bourse), a conference-debate on “Drug addiction in the workplace”. Being concerned about what is happening in the company is an additional possibility of reaching families. Micheline Chaban-Delmas is convinced of this. “I believe that in the company, there is a new awareness. It is important, here too, to train relay adults. But they must always be surrounded by a small structure. Because it can happen that they are overwhelmed by a case…”
The foundation leaves no stone unturned. It acts at all levels. Even among very young people. “I am starting to work again with the Center Georges-Pompidou workshop to redo a brochure for 8-12 year olds (1). It’s about making them aware of physical and moral health, so that they realize that there is respect for life and that we must have respect for our bodies. I am also launching an operation with four young 22-year-old advertisers. On April 4, in La Villette, middle school students, high school students and former drug addicts will be divided into four discussion tables, to build the model of a clip and a poster. We will have lunch together, and in the afternoon a summary will be carried out with one or two leading specialists in drug addiction and communication. It will be done for young people, with young people. » Young people from Bordeaux, Parisians, but also young people from border towns (Nice and Metz) and Lille, where interesting experiments are being carried out.
>Find all our archives on Micheline Chaban-Delmas in our search engine
A fierce will
The Toxicomania and Youth Prevention Foundation also participates in rehabilitation and social reintegration experiments. “We work with EXPE, an Ardèche structure, which familiarizes young former drug addicts with the mountains. There are risks, possible death but that’s for something completely different. I wrote to Alain Carignon and Jean-Michel Barnier to help them find positions for them, because the goal of EXPE is to reintegrate them into jobs induced by the mountains… If a drug addict escaped , is that he showed a fierce will. If nothing awaits him, he will start again… I thus found, through this foundation, a whole network of small structures with, at their head, fabulous people, who are wonderfully available to others. We must help them! But let’s not forget that the real problem is to give young people a real project. They need to admire, need a role model. If he is absent, they follow the one who is strongest, the clan leader. »
