If Danielle Mitterrand had not died of heart problems on November 22, 2011 at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital in Paris, she would have been 100 years old this year. Resistant, fierce defender of human rights and those of all oppressed peoples, the wife, for fifty-two years, of François Mitterrand was a fighter and the ills that overwhelm our planet today would certainly not leave her silent.
The absolute paradox being that, it is precisely on her ability to remain silent that the secret of her relationship rested with the former President of the Republic. From 1965 to his death in 1996, the latter enjoyed a passionate relationship with Anne Pingeot, whom he met when she was only 14 years old and later became a curator at the Louvre Museum. As we know, this affair gave birth, on December 18, 1974 in Avignon (Vaucluse), to Mazarine Pingeot. Danielle Mitterrand never says anything about this rival, as she had promised her husband.
But their pact was based on another pillar: the love story that the deceived woman experienced. Shortly after François began his adventure with Anne, his wife met a certain Jean Balenci. “In the 1960s, family and loved ones saw the emergence a handsome brunette, not very tall but athleticbroad shoulders, flat stomach, bulging muscles, friendly smile. He is a gymnastics teacher, organizing member of CLAN, the Alpine and Nautical Leisure Club. In winter, he is a ski instructor“, says Robert Schneider in his book First Ladiespublished in 2014 by Perrin.
Danielle Mitterrand chooses a man 12 years her junior
The Mitterrands are regulars at the Landes seaside resort of Hossegor, and it is there that Jean met them. Hurt by her man's double life, Danielle sets her sights on Balenci, twelve years her junior. At first, they see each other in secret in Paris or in Latche, the family's Landes sheepfold and their summer residence. When summer came, the future French head of state finally became aware of the looks his wife gave to this regular visitor. He reluctantly accepts the obvious: Jean is more than a “friend”.
He even ended up appreciating this bon vivant and installed him permanently in Latche where he was promoted to manager of the estate which he traveled around at the wheel of his Citroën Méhari. He reigns over the 1,000 square meter airial which will become, through acquisitions, a 22 hectare property, invaded by mosquitoes where Danielle makes her honey, cuts up the pig and prepares the blood sausage. Another tasty paradox: Originally, François had bought Latche to house his love affair with Anne Pingeot..
“He becomes the family's handyman. Gym, tennis, swimming teacher, driver, bodyguard“, explains Robert Schneider. He even regularly takes Jean-Christophe and Gilbert, the two sons of the Mitterrand couple, skiing in the Courchevel resort.
He sometimes accompanies the politician on his trips
Better, Jean Balenci ends up moving into a maid's room above the Mitterrands' Paris apartmentrue de Bièvre, in the fifth arrondissement of Paris! “On the first floor, Danielle had her own bedroom, which she had imagined with a fully open bathroom, writes Philip Short in François Mitterrand. Portrait of an ambiguous (2015, Nouveau Monde éditions). Not far away was the bedroom of his partner, Jean Balenci, 'no bigger than a boat cabin', as another occupant later complained. François's, lined with books, was on the second floor.“
In the Landes as in the capital, Jean happily has breakfast with his mistress's husband from whom he buys croissants and newspapers every morning. He sometimes accompanies the politician on his electoral trips. Until the day…
Francis orders to put an end to this story
In May 1981, François Mitterrand was elected President of the Republic. So that the press does not cause a scandal, he orders his wife to put an end to her extramarital affair. Jean Balenci moves away from rue de Bièvre and Latche. “He fades away. He understood“writes Robert Schneider. But Mitterrand will always have affection for him. In particular, it allows him to take advantage of the presidential hunting grounds and regularly sends him rugby tickets for the French team matches. Jean ended up settling in Dax (Landes), where he will marry and have two children.
Obviously, Danielle suffers a lot from this sacrifice. A sacrifice all the more cruel since, for his part, her husband does not leave Anne Pingeot! In 1994, the press finally revealed the existence of this affair and of Mazarine. In the documentary Élysée: nine women on the steps of the palacebroadcast in January 2020 on France 5, historian Joëlle Chevé explains that Danielle Mitterrand experienced this public revelation as “a stab“.
“For her, François was taking a swipe at the contract they had between them, that is to say 'I say nothing, you say nothing'. It's a betrayal.” According to those around her, she experienced it as an insult to the beautiful years she could still have enjoyed with Jean if the tenant of the Élysée had not signaled the end of their passion.
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