The former Minister Delegate for Justice and then for Communication under François Mitterrand, died on Tuesday at the age of 90, learned France Inter from his entourage.
Criminal lawyer Georges Kiejman died on Tuesday May 9, France Inter learned from those around him, confirming information from Le Monde. Georges Kiejman was 90 years old. Friend of Pierre Mendès-France, whom he considered his “surrogate father” and to whom he was close until his death, he had also been a minister under the presidency of François Mitterrand, in charge in particular of a portfolio delegated to Justice or Communication and finally to International Cooperation and Development.
Involved in media trials, Georges Kiejman has been the defender of the activist Pierre Goldman, of the family of Malik Oussékine, of the family of Marie Trintignant, of “Charlie Hebdo” after the affair of the caricatures of Mahommet, Liliane Bettencourt, or even of former President Jacques Chirac in the case of fictitious jobs in the city of Paris.
“A deportee’s child”
Born in 1932 in Paris to Polish Jewish parents, Georges Kiejman grew up in poverty, alone alongside an illiterate mother, and saw his father’s deportation to Auschwitz in 1943 at barely ten years old (from which he never returned). He took the oath in 1953 at the Paris bar and began his meteoric rise. Initially specializing in copyright issues, he became the favorite lawyer in the publishing industry, defending in particular Claude Gallimard and several authors or rights holders, then cinema. He was elevated to the rank Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor in 2014.
“Beyond the passionate lawyer, with incandescent commitments, he remains for me a man curious about everyone and who guided you towards a better version of yourself”pays tribute to France Inter his colleague Richard Malka, who started in his cabinet. “He had revenge to take on life, he was a child of a deportee, he lived with relish. (…) He left me the legacy of perfectionism, commitment, requirement towards oneself and the life that must be crunched.”
On Twitter, Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti hailed a “huge litigator, impertinent lawyer, committed minister, always with class and humor” Who “leaves a huge void”.
Huge litigator, impertinent lawyer, committed minister, always with class and humor, Georges Kiejman was all of these at the same time. He leaves a huge void that nothing and no one can ever fill. I have a moved thought for his family and loved ones.
— Eric Dupond-Moretti (@E_DupondM) May 9, 2023