Hollande, François (1954-…), was president of France from May 2012 to May 2017. Hollande is a member of France’s liberal Socialist Party. He defeated his conservative opponent, President Nicolas Sarkozy, in an election on May 6, 2012. At the time of the election, France faced a number of challenges, including high unemployment amid an ongoing European debt crisis. Hollande became France’s first Socialist Party president since 1995. Hollande did not run for a second term in office.
François Gérard Georges Hollande was born on Aug. 12, 1954, in Rouen, in northern France. Hollande studied at HEC Paris, an elite business school, and the Paris Institute of Political Studies. In 1980, he graduated from the National School of Administration (École Nationale d’Administration, or ENA). The ENA prepared students for government careers. It closed in 2021 and was replaced by the National Institute of Public Service (Institut National du Service Public).
Hollande joined the Socialist Party in 1979. He served as an economic advisor to French President François Mitterrand, who was in office from 1981 to 1995. In 1988, Hollande won election to the National Assembly. He served as a representative of the south-central department (administrative district) of Corrèze. He lost his reelection bid in 1993 but returned to the National Assembly in 1997. That year, he became first secretary of France’s Socialist Party.
From 2001 to 2008, Hollande was mayor of Tulle, the main city of Corrèze. In 2008, he resigned as Socialist Party secretary and became president of the General Council of Corrèze.
Hollande’s former domestic partner, Ségolène Royal, was the Socialist Party candidate for president in 2007. The couple separated after her election loss to Sarkozy. Hollande and Royal have four children.
See also Europe (Recent developments); Mitterrand, François Maurice; Royal, Ségolène.
