On June 20, 1944, Orleanian Jean Zay was assassinated by the French militia. He, who was a deputy for Loiret then Minister of National Education for the Popular Front, fought the extreme right all his life. In Orléans a tribute will be paid to him this Sunday, in Paris it is today at La Sorbonne.
Commemorations to celebrate the memory of Jean Zay begin today in Paris, in the crypt of La Sorbonne. They will continue this Sunday, June 23, in Orléans at Pasteur Park, in front of the monument which recalls his fight and his values.
Jean Zay died 80 years ago to the day, assassinated by the Vichy government. His body had been thrown into a ravine on the side of a road in Allier. Born in Orléans in 1904, he was deputy for Loiret at the age of 27 then Minister of Education in 1936 under the Popular Front of Léon Blum. At the time, he played a major role in the creation of this left-wing front.
“His legacy is immense for the Republic and this particularly resonates in the current political context” estimated Isabelle Klinka-Ballesteros president of the Cercle Jean Zay d’Orléans.
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