Biography

• Born on 2nd February 1926 in Koblenz/Rhine.
• At 18 years of age he joined the First French Army and took part in the military campaigns in France and Germany (1944–1945). After completing his studies at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration he was appointed Inspector of Finances in 1952.
• In January 1956 he began his parliamentary career as a deputy for the Puy-de-Dôme département. In 1959 he was appointed first of all as Secretary of State, then in 1962 as Minister of Economy and Finance (until 1966 and subsequently again from 1969 to 1974). After the unexpected death of Georges Pompidou, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing was elected in May 1974 as one of the youngest presidents of the French Republic (until 1981).
• After losing the office of President he still remained politically active at a federal state, regional and European level. Amongst others he was Chair of the UDF from 1988 to 1996 and was repeatedly elected as Member of the French National Assembly (1984, 1986, 1988, 1993 and 1997). Between 1989 and 1993 he was a Member of the European Parliament.
• At the proposal of the European Council Giscard took on the Chairmanship of the Convention on the Future of Europe at the beginning of the year 2002.