Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers | |
---|---|
President of the Movement for France | |
In office 20 November 1994 – 28 June 2018 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Member of the European Parliament | |
In office 20 July 2004 – 30 June 2014 | |
Constituency | West France |
In office 20 July 1999 – 16 December 1999 | |
Constituency | France |
In office 19 July 1994 – 15 June 1997 | |
Constituency | France |
President of the General Council of Vendée | |
In office 3 October 1988 – 31 October 2010 | |
Preceded by | Michel Crucis |
Succeeded by | Bruno Retailleau |
Member of the National Assembly for Vendée | |
In office 12 June 1997 – 19 July 2004 | |
Preceded by | Bruno Retailleau |
Succeeded by | Véronique Besse |
Constituency | 4th |
In office 23 June 1988 – 24 October 1994 | |
Preceded by | Proportional representation |
Succeeded by | Bruno Retailleau |
Constituency | 4th |
In office 2 June 1987 – 14 May 1988 | |
Preceded by | Vincent Ansquer |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Constituency | At-large |
Secretary of State for Culture | |
In office 20 March 1986 – 25 June 1987 | |
Prime Minister | Jacques Chirac |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Reconquête (2021–present)[1] | 25 March 1949
Other political affiliations | Republican Party (1985–1994) Movement for France (1994–2018) |
Spouse | Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve |
Children | 7 |
Relatives | Pierre de Villiers (brother) |
Alma mater | University of Nantes Sciences Po École nationale d'administration |
Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (French: [filip də vilje]; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist.[2] He is the founder of the Puy du Fou theme park in Vendée, which is centred around the history of France. Appointed Secretary of State for Culture in 1986 by President François Mitterrand, de Villiers entered the National Assembly the following year and the European Parliament in 1994.
After leaving the Republican Party (PR) to found the Movement for France (MPF), he was its nominee in the 1995 and 2007 presidential elections.[3] He received 4.74% of the vote the first time, placing seventh; he won 2.23% of the vote twelve years later, putting him in sixth place. De Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of mass immigration and Islam in France, as well as his ardent support of the French way of life. His brother, General Pierre de Villiers, served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 2014 to 2017.
Personal life
De Villiers was born in
De Villiers received a
He is a
He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born in Valenciennes on 4 October 1950 and has seven children: Caroline (born in Montaigu, 12 August 1976), Guillaume (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 14 December 1977), Nicolas (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 10 September 1979), Marie (born in Nantes, 5 October 1981), Laurent (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 8 April 1984), Bérengère (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 1 October 1988) and Blanche (born in Cholet, 21 June 1993).
Career
1995 presidential bid
From 1976 to 1978, De Villiers served as a senior civil servant in the Chirac administration.[8] In 1981, he resigned his post as subprefect because he did not want to serve the government of the Socialist President François Mitterrand[9].[citation needed] In 1986 and 1987, he briefly served as Secretary of State for Culture (Secrétaire d'État auprès du Ministre de la Culture) in the second government of Jacques Chirac, under Minister François Léotard. His appointment was initially viewed badly by Libération and several other press agencies, which referred to his "ambiguous personality". However, Villiers supported Leotard's mixed, non-ideological policy towards French culture.[10]
In 1987, he was elected into local office as a member in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Republican Party.[8] He became a rising star within the Union for French Democracy.[11] During the public debate over the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union, in 1992, he achieved lasting prominence in the media as an anti-Treaty activist.[12] This set him apart from most prominent members of the mainstream political right.[11] The French people narrowly ratified the Treaty in September 1992.[12]
De Villiers led an anti-European integration list in 1994 receiving about 12 percent of the votes, placing it in third place behind the Gaullists and the Socialists.[8] Villiers centered the campaign on opposition to the European Union along with a call to eliminate corruption in government.[11] In November 1994, Villers left the Republican Party to form Movement for France. He ran for President of France in 1995 and received about 5 percent of the vote.[8]
2007 presidential bid
Once a member of the Union for French Democracy, he then led the Movement for France, which enjoyed some success in elections for the European Parliament. The party's share of the vote declined in the 2004 European Parliament election. Nevertheless, Villiers and two other members of his party were elected.
De Villiers ran for the French presidency in 2007, and based his campaign on his opposition to what he sees as the rampant
Following the first round of the 2007 presidential election, he called on voters to vote for Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy to counter the Socialist Party's candidate Ségolène Royal and the left.
Villiers and
Political positions
Criticism of Islam
De Villiers is known for his
De Villiers published Les mosquées de Roissy: nouvelles révélations sur l'islamisation en France (The Mosques of Roissy: New Revelations about Islamization in France) in 2006. In it he alleged, using internal documents from
Political philosophy
Villiers is a
He advocates cutting taxes, expelling all illegal immigrants, and
Villiers opposes immigration into France in general, but he has advocated that "individual cases be treated with the greatest humanity." He also opposes expelling current immigrants residing in France or subjecting them to discrimination in housing, employment, or other spheres. Despite their differences on these and other issues, the
Villiers coined the phrase "
American author Harvey Gerald Simmons has compared the "Villiers phenomenon" to
Support base
De Villiers gathers his support from practising Roman Catholics, artisans, retired people, farmers and small business owners.[8]
Offices held
Governmental function
Secretary of State for Communication: 1986–1987.
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament: 1994-1997 (Resignation, reelected in the parliamentary elections in 1997) / July–December 1999 (Resignation) / Since 2004. Elected in 1994, reelected in 1999, 2004, 2009.
National Assembly of France
Member of the
General Council
President of the General Council of Vendée : 1988-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008.
General councillor of Vendée: 1987-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2008.
Political function
President of the Movement for France: 1994-1999 / Since 2000.
Electoral history
Presidential
Election | First round | Second round | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Position | Result | Votes | % | Position | Result | |
1995 | 1,443,186 | 4.74% | (#7) | Lost | ||||
2007 | 818,407 | 2.23 | (#6) | Lost |
Works
- de Villiers, Philippe (1988). Lettres aux jeunes qui ont peur de l'avenir. Paris: J.C. Lattès. OCLC 19814079.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1989). La chienne qui miaule. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 23956484.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1989). Lettre ouverte aux coupeurs de têtes et aux menteurs du bicentenaire. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 21162937.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1992). Notre Europe sans Maastricht. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 27723538.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1993). Avant qu'il ne soit trop tard. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 300929353.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1994). La société de connivence : ou comment faire avaler des serpents à sonnette. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 463896420.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1996). Dictionnaire du politiquement correct à la française. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 35365534.
- de Villiers, Philippe (1998). La machination d'Amsterdam. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 40427463.
- de Villiers, Philippe; Chamard, Michel (2001). L'aventure du Puy-du-Fou : entretiens avec Michel Chamard. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 466988772.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2001). Vous avez aimé les farines animales, vous adorerez l'euro. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 48773417.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2003). La 51ème étoile du drapeau américain. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 53330108.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2004). Quand les abeilles meurent, les jours de l'homme sont comptés : un scandale d'Etat. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 417647739.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2005). Les turqueries du grand Mamamouchi. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 57464937.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2006). Les mosquées de Roissy. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 68706604.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2007). Une France qui gagne. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 81249751.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2012). Les secrets du Puy du Fou. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 793723733.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2012). Le roman de Charette. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 814233679.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2013). Le roman de Saint Louis. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 870978887.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2014). Le roman de Jeanne d'Arc. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 897805802.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2015). Le moment est venu de dire ce que j'ai vu. Paris: Albin Michel. OCLC 923825587.
- de Villiers, Philippe (2016). Les cloches sonneront-elles encore demain ?. Paris: Albin Michel. ISBN 9782226393784.
References
- ^ @Reconquete_Z (11 December 2021). "Philippe de Villiers (@PhdeVilliers) rejoint officiellement le parti #Reconquete d'Éric Zemmour ! L'homme politique…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c Your MEPs:Philippe de VILLIERS. European Parliament:Main Website. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
- ^ 2007 French Presidential Elections The Washington Post
- ^ a b c d e France's Eurorebel 'with a cause'. By William Horsley. BBC News. Published 30 March 2004.
- ^ "Thea Award recipients: 1994-2022". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ "Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, * 1949 - Geneall.net". www.geneall.net.
- Imdb.com. Retrieved 5 March 2005.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gerald Simmons, Harvey (1996). The French National Front. Westview Press. pp. 107–111.
- ^ "En 1981, Villiers avait démissionné". 23 March 2008.
- ^ a b Looseley, David L. (1997). The Politics of Fun. Berg Publishers. p. 166.
- ^ ISBN 9780822321392.
- ^ a b Laursen, Finn; Vanhoonacker, Sophie (1994). The ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
- ^ a b c Chazan, David (16 August 2014). "French politician defends plan for Crimean theme park". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
- Islam Online. Published 24 April 2006.
- ^ a b Far-right leader decries "Islamisation of France". By Tom Heneghan. The Boston Globe. Published 23 April 2006.
- ^ a b c Philippe de Villiers. By David Marcelis. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Published 2 August 2006.
- ^ Mazel, Michelle. "Prophet of Muslim Doom or Farsighted Politician?". Jewish Political Studies Review 19:1-2 (Spring 2007)..
- ^ a b Paris Airport Bars Muslim Workers. Der Spiegel. Published 2 November 2006.
- ^ a b c d French No campaigners launch new bid to bring back the franc. By Nicola Smith. The Scotsman. Published 17 June 2005.
- ^ The Economist, Business & Economics Section, 1995, Page 21
- ^ a b c Unlikely Hero in Europe's Spat: The 'Polish Plumber'. The New York Times. Published 26 June 2005.
External links
Media related to Philippe de Villiers at Wikimedia Commons
- (in French) Official website