The former Minister of National Education died on January 4. He had marked public opinion with his controversial positions on education and ecology.
Claude Allègre, former Minister of National Education under Lionel Jospin, died this Saturday, January 4 at the age of 87, announced his son, without specifying the causes of his death. He suffered a major heart attack in 2013. He was born on March 31, 1937, to a father who was a biology professor and a mother who was a teacher. It was during his studies that he met Lionel Jospin, with whom he formed very strong friendships. Claude Allègre’s son even describes this relationship as “fusional”. It is therefore quite naturally that this trained geochemist was called to occupy rue de Grenelle in 1997, after joining the PS in 1973.
At the Ministry of National Education, one sentence has a profound impact. “Never spoken publicly”, resulting from an “off with a journalist”, that is to say a confidential conversation, as his son regrets, he would have said he wanted to “thin the mammoth”, that is to say say reduce the number of teachers. An outcry among teachers whose opposition continued to grow until 2000, when Claude Allègre left rue de Grenelle. He is finally replaced by Jack Lang, which creates tensions between Allègre and Jospin. On the education side, he attacks the teachers’ union, the SNES, which he describes as “Stalinist”.
Right turn in 2007
Claude Allègre began a turn to the right in 2007, when he supported the right-wing candidate (UMP) Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential election. At the same time as this rapprochement, the former minister multiplies the invectives against his former allies, Lionel Jospin, Laurent Fabius, Ségolène Royal… Claude Allègre will also support Nicolas Sarkozy during his lost campaign of 2012. “If he rallied behind Sarkozy, it was because he saw that there was someone who really wanted to change things”, explains his son, whose comments are reported by South-West. “Deep down, he had a naive side, he wanted to change people’s lives. He believed in Man and thought we could change him.”
Claude Allègre was also unable to convince the right. In 2009, he was cited to be part of the government, but this project was ultimately not carried out. His climate-skeptical positions could be the cause. It must be said that in a few years, this chemist, who is not specialized in climate, has positioned himself as a leading figure of climate skepticism in France. The fact that he was decorated with the CNRS gold medal and the Crafoord prize (prestigious scientific awards) and that he was a member of the Academy of Sciences allowed him to support his positions on the climate. In particular, he published in 2010 a book entitled “The climatic imposture”, subtitled “or false ecology”, against which more than 600 climatologists denounced the “denigrations” and “false accusations” to the Ministry of Ecology. Claude Allègre notably distinguished himself by questioning the dangers of asbestos and defending nuclear power after the dramatic Fukushima accident in 2011.
The reactions of the political class
The announcement of the death of Claude Allègre caused the political class to react. Nicolas Sarkozy praised his “sense of the State and love of people” as well as his “strong character of those who have convictions and the courage to defend them”.
Élisabeth Borne, current Minister of National Education, retains of him “the image of a great researcher” with whom she participated “under the authority of Lionel Jospin, in the University 2000 plan”. She still recognizes that it sparked “controversies”.
François Fillon, former Prime Minister of Nicolas Sarkozy, also wrote a message about his former ally. He takes the opportunity to send a message against “political correctness which is cracking our democracy”.
Finally, it was François Bayrou who reacted to the announcement of his death. He describes him, in a more reserved manner, as an “original spirit”, “who did not fear ‘alone against all’” and salutes his “courage” as well as his idea of school.
