Born in Chasteaux, in Corrèze, in 1929, communist André Lajoinie died at the age of 94. He was never elected in Corrèze, where he grew up in a family of farmers, but he was regional councilor for Auvergne from 1978 to 1988, then from 1992 to 1998 and deputy for Allier from 1978 to 2002 André Lajoinie was also a candidate in the 1988 presidential election, in which he won. 6.76% of the votes, and he chaired the communist group in the National Assembly between 1981 and 1993.
“A man very close to the people” – Michel Julien, deputy federal secretary of the PC in Corrèze
It was in the Brive sector that André Lajoinie began his life as an activist. In 1958, he was also seriously injured in the head during a demonstration in the Cité Gaillardeagainst the Algerian war. He got over it and continued to fervently defend workers as well as farmers. Michel Julien, current deputy secretary of the Communist Party in Corrèze, remembers a man imbued with humanity. “He was someone who was very attached to human relations, who was very close to people and who knew perfectly the agricultural environment in which he lived.”
Very quickly, he is spotted by the leadership of the PCF, who called him to the Paris region in 1962. This is the start of a meteoric rise, underlines Michel Julien with admiration. “I have a lot of respect for this journey, because from a very modest background, he became someone who was recognized and he ended up with responsibilities at the national level.” Until running for the mandate of President of the Republic in 1988, with the enthusiastic support of the secretary general of the PCF at the time Georges Marchais. During a campaign meeting, he notably launched: “An André Lajoinie ballot is dynamite in the hands of workers to defeat the bourgeoisie and capital”triggering thunderous applause from the activists.
André Lajoinie then collected 6.76% of the votes in the first round of this 1988 presidential election, then he continued his career as deputy for Allier, president of the communist group in the National Assembly, then again as regional councilor for Auvergne. He remained involved in politics until 2002, while returning regularly to Corrèze, notably to Spontouron the banks of the Dordogne, where his wife was from and where they had a house.
Within the political class, and particularly in his political family, tributes to André Lajoinie have multiplied since the announcement of his death on Tuesday.“We have lost a man of great humanity” reacts on X the secretary of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel. His peasant origins and their influence on his approach are also highlighted by Senator Ian Brossat, co-president of the communist group at the Council of Paris. “The son of farmers, he had a love of people deep in his heart” he indicates on X, greeting “a fierce defender of the working class”.
The former President of the Republic, and current deputy for Corrèze, François Hollande also paid tribute to André Lajoinie in a message posted on X in which he highlights his fight “for social justice and for family justice”.
For his part, the Prime Minister reacted this Thursday afternoon. “I knew him personally, I respected him and we worked a lot together. And I would simply like to say to his friends and comrades in the Communist Party that we share their pain.”declared the Prime Minister.
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