Jean-Noël Jeanneney is not only a well-known historian, former President and General Manager of Radio France, former Secretary of State and Director of the Bibliotheque National de France, but also a descendant of a family that has played an important role in the public life of its country for centuries. His grandfather, Jules Jeanneney, was a politician, Senator, Secretary of State for War under Georges Clemenceau, and then President of the Senate of the Third Republic from 1932 to 1940. Our guest’s father, Jean-Marcel Jeanneney, served for nearly ten years in various ministries during the presidency of Charles de Gaulle, while also serving as a member of the National Assembly. Jean-Noël Jeanneney himself served under François Mitterrand as Secretary of State for Trade and then for Communications, in the governments of Édith Cresson and Pierre Bérégovoy.
Among his many assignments, he was the Government Commissioner for the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. He is a member of the editorial board of the popular history magazine l’Histoire and the founder and Scientific Director of Les Rendez-Vous de l’Histoire, a festival that has been held in Blois for a quarter of a century now. With tens of thousands of visitors, this event is the most important gathering of French historians and the general public interested in history. Jean-Noël Jeanneney is also widely known for his radio programme Concordance des temps on France Culture, a historical programme which attracts almost half a million listeners every week.
During the visit, the relationship between Otto von Habsburg and Georges Mandel, the French politician assassinated in 1944, was discussed. Jean-Noël Jeanneney has written an excellent biography and play about the important public figure, entitled Georges Mandel. L’homme qu’on attendait (Georges Mandel – The Long-Awaited Man). The namesake of our Foundation had a long-standing friendship with Mandel, who, as Minister of the Interior in 1940, provided considerable support for the former Crown Prince’s rescue efforts. Our guest kindly asked us to inform him if we find anything on this subject. As a farewell, Jean-Noël Jeanneney invited us to the annual history festival in Blois and to his radio programme to discuss the life and legacy of Otto von Habsburg.
Ambassador Claire Legras thanked the Otto von Habsburg Foundation for organising events that include guests from France and offered her help in inviting French speakers in the future.
The visit confirmed once again that the network of contacts of our Foundation’s namesake can still be of great help in deepening French-Hungarian relations.
