Former minister Claude Allègre died this Saturday at the age of 87.
He had occupied rue de Grenelle during the government of Lionel Jospin.
A geochemist by training, he was known for controversial positions on climate change.
Former Minister of National Education Claude Allègre died this Saturday January 4 in Paris at the age of 87, his son announced to AFP. He suffered a major heart attack in 2013 and had suffered health problems since then. His condition deteriorated last September, the same source said.
The man who wanted to “defat the mammoth”
A geochemist by training and member of the Academy of Sciences, Claude Allègre was notably rewarded with the Crafoord prize in 1986 and the CNRS gold medal in 1994 for his work. On June 2, 1997, he entered the Ministry of National Education, when Lionel Jospin, whom he was close to and whom he had known during his studies, was Prime Minister.
Rue de Grenelle, Claude Allègre experienced a tumultuous tenancy, notably due to a projection in which he promised to “degrease the mammoth” of National Education and “debureaucratize” administration. A sentence “never spoken publicly”issue d’un “off with a journalist”, “but that’s what remained”regrets his son Laurent. Claude Allègre was then replaced in 2000 at the ministry by Jack Lang, which caused a temporary cooling of his relations with Lionel Jospin.
Strong opinions
A member of the Socialist Party from 1973, before joining Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007, Claude Allègre was also known for controversial positions on climate change, to the point of becoming a leading figure in France for climate skepticism. In particular, he contested the link between global warming and an increase in CO2.
Ulcerated by the attacks relayed by the ex-minister in his best-seller, The climate imposturemore than 600 climatologists wrote in the spring of 2010 to the Minister of Research at the time, Valérie Pécresse, to denounce the “denigrations” et “false accusations” uttered by a non-climate scientist.
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Born March 31, 1937 to a professor father and a schoolteacher mother, Claude Allègre, with a good-natured personality, but also sometimes “abrupt” et “stubborn” says his son, will never have renounced his positions on the subject. “It’s a shame to only keep that, everyone fell on him excessively”laments his son.
Prime Minister François Bayrou paid tribute to him on the X network: “Honor to Claude Allègre, original spirit, great scientist, man of combat, who did not fear ‘alone against all’. He loved transmission through the school of which he had a high idea. Courage was his mark.”
Former President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy, whom Claude Allègre supported during the 2012 presidential election, for his part welcomed, on his X account, “a committed, courageous and reforming political leader, who put his creativity and remarkable intelligence at the service of France and the French”. “I am proud to have been his friend”he concluded.
