Former minister and ex-mayor of Auxerre Jean-Pierre Soisson died at the age of 89

“Jean-Pierre Soisson died peacefully, surrounded by his family today late in the afternoon,” said one of his two sons, David Soisson, on Tuesday.

Former minister, deputy for Yonne and mayor of Auxerre (Yonne) Jean-Pierre Soisson died in Auxerre at the age of 89, Tuesday February 27, his family announced to AFP. He “died peacefully, surrounded by his family today late afternoon”, declared one of his two sons, David Soisson. The former political leader, strong man of Burgundy and mayor of Auxerre from 1971 to 1998, “had been battling cancer for many years”he added.

Born on November 9, 1934 in Auxerre, son of an industrialist, Jean-Pierre Soisson entered the government in 1974 as Secretary of State for Universities, as reported by France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. He was then appointed Minister of Youth, Sports and Recreation (1978-81) in the government of Raymond Barre. In 1988, he joined the government of Michel Rocard as Minister of Labor (1988-1991). Reappointed to the Civil Service by Edith Cresson (1991-1992), he was then Minister of Agriculture under Pierre Bérégovoy (1992-1993).

In 1998, this man with deep local roots, who was the strong man of Burgundy before moving away from politics, was one of the five centrists elected regional presidents thanks to the votes of the National Front. His successor as president of the region, the socialist François Patriat, saw in this alliance with the FN “a stain that will be difficult to get rid of”.

“A real role of social worker”

A man in the field with easy familiarity, Jean-Pierre Soisson has been able to maintain his relationships with local elected officials, whatever their political label. Supporter of a “peaceful democracy”refusing to be “the man of confrontation”the deputy for Yonne confided that he had conceived his local political commitment as “a real social worker role”while there is “fewer and fewer priests and doctors”.

This father of two sons, already author of several works, including Charles the Bold (1997) and Paul Bert, the republican ideal (2008), devoted his last years to writing, including his memoirs, Off the beaten track – Chronicle of a political lifepublished in 2015.

In November 2016, Jean-Pierre Soisson was made a knight of the Legion of Honor, in a military capacity, for his service during the Algerian War.