June 6, 2026, 1:19 p.mJune 6, 2026, 1:19 p.m
France’s former first lady Bernadette Chirac is dead. The widow of former conservative President Jacques Chirac died on Friday evening at the age of 93, her daughter told the AFP news agency. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, “a generous lady has left us. The nation shares the grief of her family, loved ones and all those who loved her.” As First Lady, Bernadette Chirac “shaped our history alongside President Jacques Chirac” and, thanks to her social commitment, the fate of millions of sick people.
Bernadette Chirac has died.Image: keystone
Bernadette Chirac was popular with the people of France and advised her husband throughout his long political career. “She is the woman of my life, we have achieved so much together,” wrote Jacques Chirac, who died in 2019 at the age of 86, in his memoirs. To date, Bernadette Chirac remains the only French first lady to have held a political office herself. From 1979 to 2015 she was general councilor of the Corrèze department.
Bernadette and Jacques Chirac met at the Paris elite Sciences Po university and married in 1956. Jacques Chirac was President of France from 1995 to 2007 and previously served as Prime Minister twice and as Mayor of Paris. (hkl/sda/dpa)