Nicolas Sarkozy: biography, personal life, family, politics, photo. Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is a famous French politician who recently served as President of the Fifth Republic. In this capacity he is known in all corners of the Earth. But is this the only remarkable thing about the personality of our today’s hero? Of course not. Leaving aside Sarkozy the President, today we will try to talk about him as an ordinary person. Let the specifics of the political path be left to other resources. Today we’ll talk about something much more interesting...

Childhood and the beginning of the biography of Nicolas Sarkozy

The future President of France and Prince of Andorra was born on January 28, 1955 in the city of Paris. His family had not only French, but also Hungarian and Jewish roots. The father of our today's hero, a native of Budapest, Pal Nagy-Bocsa Szarközy, was a representative of a well-known noble dynasty in Hungary and even owned his own castle. During World War II, he, like many other large landowners, supported the pro-fascist regime in Hungary, and therefore was forced to flee the country after the arrival of Soviet troops and the establishment of a socialist regime in the country. So, the father of the future president ended up in France. Here he met a charming student named Andre Mala, who very soon became his wife. As a result of this union, three sons were born, among whom Nicolas was the second oldest.

It is quite remarkable that in childhood the Sarkozy family lived quite poorly. After the birth of the children, the father of our today's hero left the family and practically did not help his children in any way. That is why Nicolas often felt superfluous and unnecessary in the world that surrounded him. He often suffered attacks from his classmates, who always did not treat the descendants of emigrants very well. In later interviews, Nicolas Sarkozy repeatedly admitted that his desire for power was largely based on his second-class status as a child.

In 1978, the future president of France graduated from the University of Paris X-Nanterre, where he received a master's degree in civil law. After this, he also studied for some time at the Institute of Political Studies, but left it without receiving a diploma. For some time after this, our today's hero worked in the field of commercial law, specializing mainly in issues related to real estate.

Political career of Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy's political career began in 1974 when he joined the Union of Democrats for the Republic party. In 1981, our today's hero headed the youth committee as part of Jacques Chirac's election campaign. After this, Nicolas became his protégé and received one of the parliamentary seats in early elections to the French parliament.

Attack on Nicolas Sarkozy

In 1993, one of the fateful moments in the career of the future president of France happened. As a truce, he personally negotiated with a terrorist who was holding hostage the children and teachers of the tenth kindergarten in the town of Neuilly. After this episode, he became very popular among voters, and therefore the then prime minister, Edouard Balladur, hastened to include Sarkozy among his ministers. Nicolas received the portfolio of Minister of Budget

After this, there were many more ups and downs in the political career of our today's hero. He moved from one ministry to another, for a short time was a deputy from France in the European Parliament, worked as mayor of the town of Neuilly-sur-Seine, and also served as Minister of the Interior. In this capacity, he carried out several tough reforms aimed at combating separatism and crime. In 2004, our today's hero was elected leader of the Union for the People's Movement party. Three years later, as the leader of this party, Nicolas Sarkozy nominated himself for the presidential elections.

Nicolas Sarkozy - President of France

As a result, our today's hero received 31.18% of the votes in the first round of voting and advanced to the second round along with the candidate from the Socialist Party, Ségolène Royal. The second round of voting was victorious for Nicolas. 53% of voters voted for him. Thus, on May 16, 2007, the talented politician became the new president of France.

During his presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy carried out several important reforms. He introduced a limit on the re-election of the president (no more than two terms in a row), and adopted several bills regulating the process of immigration to France. In addition, he was active in strengthening the position of the European Union in world politics, but opposed Turkey’s entry into this organization. As an international mediator, Sarkozy participated in resolving the South Ossetian conflict.

Nicolas Sarkozy: came with Cecile, left with Carla

During Sarkozy's presidency, his ratings rose and fell several times. Nicolas approached the new presidential elections with a good “margin of safety”, however, despite this, he still lost the election to Francois Hollande. In the second round of voting, Nicolas received 48.36% of the votes against 51.64% for his opponent. As a result, Sarkozy left the presidency.

Personal life of Nicolas Sarkozy and hobbies outside politics

Nicolas Sarkozy's novels have repeatedly become the subject of heated discussions in the French press. Back in 1982, the future president married a native of Corsica, Marie-Dominique Cuglioli. As a result of this marital union, two children were born - sons Jean and Pierre. However, in fact, the marriage lasted only a year and a half.

The thing is that even during their marriage, Nicolas began dating model Cecilia Martin, who at that time was married to an elderly entrepreneur. It is very noteworthy that Nicolas Sarkozy legitimized this marriage personally - as mayor of the town of Neuilly-sur-Seine, he even officiated at the wedding ceremony. Subsequently, Cecilia and Nicolas met secretly for some time. In 1988, they began officially dating. In 1989, the girl divorced her former husband. Sarkozy had to wait until 1996 for a divorce. In the same year, Cecilia and Nicolas had a son, Louis.

The marriage with his second wife broke up in 2007. After this, reports began to appear in the press about the French President’s affair with the Italian singer Carla Bruni, who was previously also known for her scandalous affairs. So, in particular, the Italian woman has a son from a young guy, Rafael Enthoven, with whom she began an affair while she was still dating his father.

However, such dark spots in Carla’s biography did not bother Sarkozy at all. In 2008, the lovers tied the knot, and already in 2011, the third wife gave birth to his daughter Julia. Outside of politics, Sarkozy is an ardent film fan. He starred several times in various French films. He also worked on two films as a screenwriter.

The former president of the fifth republic, who also happened to be the prince of Andorra and the grand master of the Legion of Honor, is remembered by most of the world's population more as the husband of the beautiful model Carla Bruni. The son of a Hungarian emigrant, Nicolas Sarkozy, managed to do the incredible - make his way to the top of power. He is the first Frenchman in history to become a head of state in the second generation.

Origin

The future president of France was born in the city of Paris on January 28, 1955, in the family of a native of Budapest, Pal Nagy-Bocsa Sarkesi, and a Frenchwoman, Andre Malla. My father came from an old Hungarian dynasty who fled to the West in 1944 after Soviet troops entered the country. His relatives, who once owned the castle and are large Hungarian landowners, were supporters of the pro-fascist Horthy regime.

In Baden-Baden, under the name of Paul Sarkozy (rewriting his surname in the French way), he signed up for the French Foreign Legion. In 1948, he was demobilized, having served a five-year contract in Algeria and not wanting to go to fight in French Indochina.

Having received French citizenship for his service, he settled in Marseille. Later he moved to Paris, where he met a pretty Parisian student, who soon became his wife. Andre studied at the Faculty of Law and was the daughter of a famous surgeon in the area. Her father was an emigrant from the Greek city of Thessaloniki, a Sephardic Jew who converted to Catholicism. Mom, also of the Catholic faith, was French. It was she who gave Nicolas Sarkozy a quarter of his French roots.

early years

The boy was raised by his grandfather, who was an ardent Gaullist. Nicolas studied at a Catholic school, and rather mediocrely. The father appeared occasionally, scolded his son, and disappeared again. He did not provide any financial support to the family. As a child, as Nicolas Sarkozy later recalled, he did not feel like a full-fledged Frenchman and suffered due to a relatively poor financial situation. After the death of their grandfather, they moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine, a town near Paris.

In 1973, Nicolas graduated from school and entered the University of Paris X-Nanterre, from which he graduated in 1978, becoming a master in civil law. He continued his education at the Institute of Political Studies, but before finishing his studies, he began his career as a lawyer in the field of real estate.

As mayor

Nicolas Sarkozy became involved in politics early. In 1976, he joined the new Gaullist party “Rally for the Republic” (PRR), which was founded by the future president. He was recommended by the famous French politician Charles Pascua. A year later, from this party he became a member of the city council of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the western outskirts of Paris. And when he turned 28, in 1983 he became the mayor of this city and remained in this post until 2002.

He performed well during the campaign for the 1981 presidential elections, when he worked in Jacques Chirac's youth committee. The young and energetic young man was noticed and began to be promoted into big politics; in 1988 he became a deputy of the Lower House of Parliament. The first photos of Nicolas Sarkozy with leading French politicians appeared in the press of those years.

In 1993-1995, he served as Minister of Budget and then as Minister of Communications in the government of Edouard Balladur.

Minister

Nicolas Sarkozy showed himself especially clearly as Minister of the Interior, Internal Security and Local Government in 2002-2004. At this time, France was overwhelmed by a wave of crime, problems associated with tensions in the large Muslim community were growing, and aggressive anti-Semitism was flourishing. The situation in Corsica with its traditional separatism has worsened. In 2002 alone, more than 200 terrorist attacks occurred on the island.

The reforms and their harsh administration caused strong discontent in liberal circles, who accused the ministry of infringing on civil liberties. Measures to strengthen the fight against crime included expanding the powers granted to law enforcement forces and a widespread police presence on the streets. Tighter controls on streets and roads have reduced the number of accidents. There was a systematic fight against illegal immigration and prostitution.

His success as a minister was appreciated, and in May 2004 he was appointed minister of state - the second most important post in the government. In 2007, he resigned as preparations for the presidential elections began.

At the pinnacle of power

In the second round of elections, Sarkozy defeated the socialist with 53% of the vote. After becoming President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy began large-scale reforms. First of all, the changes concerned the basic law of the country. Many changes were made regarding the activities of the president, including restrictions on the re-election of the head of state. Parliament is given the right to veto presidential candidates. Other reforms, for example, an increase in the presidential salary by 140% with a simultaneous reduction in taxes on it, caused an extremely sharp reaction in society, where they had previously been quite critical of it.

The actions of President Nicolas Sarkozy to strengthen European integration, stabilize and increase the efficiency of the financial system of the European Union have received international recognition. He advocated strengthening the influence of the European Union on world politics and was opposed to Turkey's admission to this organization.

Nicolas Sarkozy (France was the EU chairman at that time), representing not only his country, but also Europe as a whole, made a significant contribution to the settlement of the military conflict in South Ossetia.

After the presidency

In 2012, President Nicolas Sarkozy lost in the second round of elections to the socialist ex-husband of Ségolène Royal. It is interesting that it was from her that Sarkozy, in turn, won the second round of the previous presidential elections. After the defeat, he returned to practice law in his law firm, which he founded back in the 80s. Then Sarkozy said that he would never engage in politics again.

However, in September 2014, he officially announced his return to the political arena. According to all ratings, Sarkozy was in the lead among right-wing voters. However, in the primaries for the 2017 presidential election, he took only third place and dropped out of the race.

Libyan revenge

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was detained by police on March 20, 2018 in connection with a corruption investigation. The main charge concerned receiving funds for his 2007 election campaign from the Libyan leader. This is the first time a former head of state has been detained. French law prohibits the financing of election funds from foreign sources.

The investigation into possible financing of Sarkozy's election campaign by the Libyan authorities began in April 2013. In 2011, the son of the murdered Gaddafi, the leader of the Jamahiriya, said that his father sponsored the election fund, transferring more than 50 million euros. The following year, Mediapart published documents confirming these transactions, which Sarkozy called fake.

Stormy personal life

Quite little is known about life with his first wife; they got married in 1982. His chosen one was a girl from a small village from Corsica - Dominique Cuglioli, who worked as a pharmacist. The Corsican gave birth to two sons: Pierre (1985) and Jean (1987).

In 1984, he met Cecilia Cigane-Albenitz, and at her wedding. Sarkozy, as mayor of the small town of Neuilly-sur-Seine, attended the registration ceremony at the municipality. The bride, already pregnant, married the owner of a local television channel, Jacques Martin. All this did not stop Nicolas from falling in love with Celia. Their romance lasted 12 years, during which time Madame Martin gave birth to two daughters from her husband. For one of the daughters, Nicolas Sarkozy's wife became godmother.

Second marriage

The old lovers got married in 1996, and a year later their son Louis was born. However, over time, reports began to appear in the yellow press that a crisis had arisen in the family relations of a high-ranking official. In 2005, the famous Paris Match magazine published photographs of Cecilia and her alleged lover, businessman of Moroccan origin Richard Attias, whom she married after her divorce from Sarkozy.

They were planning to separate at the beginning of 2007, but decided to wait due to the beginning of the presidential campaign. However, already in October there was a message about the divorce by mutual consent.

Blind date

French advertising guru Jacques Seguel was hosting the dinner. Among the invitees there were only married couples, and only Nicolas and Karla came alone. The president's friend thought that a little romantic adventure after a difficult divorce from his second wife would not hurt him, and organized a blind date. As they later wrote, it was only towards the end of the dinner that the girl realized that she was being brought together with the head of state. All evening he showered her with compliments, as the first lady of France later wrote, she was captivated by Sarkozy’s charm and intelligence. The couple started dating, they were not embarrassed by the fact that Nicolas Sarkozy is 166 cm tall, and Carla Bruni is 175 cm tall. However, she had to give up shoes with heels when they went out together.

Three months later, in February 2008, a modest wedding took place. The wedding, which took place at the Elysee Palace, was attended by 20 people. Many journalists doubted the sincerity of the newlyweds' feelings, considering this to be just another business project.

The haste, as it turned out, was explained by the fact that Sarkozy wanted to introduce Charles to Queen Elizabeth. According to the rules of etiquette, he could not introduce Her Majesty to his girlfriend - only to his legal wife. Everything went well, although London greeted the presidential couple with a reprint of a photo from her modeling past. A large black and white photograph of Carla Bruni nude, which sold at Christie's that same year for $135,000. In October 2011, a daughter, Julia, was born into the family.

Sarkozy for me is a person who can stop the direction of a river with a word. His unique ability to hold an audience with his words became a reason for me to become interested in this man, who over time became a teacher of rhetoric for me. I would even say more: Nicolas is a modern Cicero, who raised the power and meaning of the word to its proper height .

Sarkozy's full name is Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sárközy de Nagy-Bócsa. Today, this 56-year-old politician is the 23rd President of the French Republic, 6th President of the Fifth French Republic, Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the Legion of Honor. In France he is known by the nickname "Sarko".

The life path of Nicolas Sarkozy is proof of the possibility of a person realizing his set intentions. This is precisely the case when the road to the top was not paved by pedigree, money or exceptional natural ability. Nicolas’ childhood and teenage years cannot be called prosperous and carefree - already in adulthood, he repeatedly stated that it was the humiliations of childhood and the absence of his father that made him what he is now.

Little Sarkozy had a father, but since he withdrew and did not help the family at all, the boy was raised by his grandfather, a Catholic by religion and an admirer of Charles de Gaulle, a conservative and a man of right-wing views.

The Sarkozy family lived in the town of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the suburbs of Paris. The boy was educated at a private Catholic school, where, according to teachers, he studied rather mediocrely. In 1978, Nicolas graduated from the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris (public law and political sciences), and also took a course in private law. After graduation, he became an attorney specializing in commercial real estate law.

In the personal life of Nicolas Sarkozy, there were officially three marriages. In 1982, he married Corsican Marie-Dominique Culioli. From this marriage two sons were born - Pierre (1985) and Jean (1987). In 1984, while still mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, Sarkozy met Cecilia Martin, for whom he divorced his first wife. In 1996, Nicolas and Cecilia got married, and in 1997 their son Louis was born.

Cecilia Martin turned out to be a very active person. She often appeared with her husband in public places, serving as his assistant, which was uncharacteristic of French politics at that time. However, this relationship also began to crack, and in 2005, reports appeared in the French press that the couple was preparing for divorce, which happened on October 18, 2005. On February 2, 2008, Sarkozy entered into a third marriage - with fashion model and singer Carla Bruni, an Italian by birth.

Sarkozy is a very bright and charismatic personality of French political life. High leadership qualities allow him to have a clearly formulated personal position and methodically defend it. Sarkozy is a right-wing conservative who advocates cutting taxes and social spending. A supporter of European integration, he consistently supports the traditional French values ​​of a secular democratic state, which are based, among other things, on the experience of Christian culture. In the issue of assimilation of immigrants, he draws attention, first of all, to their ability to accept these values.

A certain indicator of Sarkozy's strength is his perception in French society, which he clearly polarizes into two camps. He is both the most popular and the most criticized of recent politicians. Left parties constantly make him an object of ridicule and criticism, while Sarkozy's supporters are a powerful and fairly consolidated force.

Sarkozy's path into politics was not simple or straightforward. In 1993, he joined the government of Edouard Balladur, where he received the position of Minister of Budget and the post of official representative of the government. In addition, he served as acting Minister of Communications. In 1995, having supported his opponent Jacques Chirac in the elections, Sarkozy lost his posts in the government. However, in 2002, Sarko showed political flair and after another, rather difficult re-election, Chirac re-entered the country's government, becoming Minister of the Interior.

In 2004, he became the most successful candidate for the vacant post of chairman of the ruling Union of People's Movement party (he received more than 85% of the votes in the party elections). Sarkozy resigned from his posts and concentrated entirely on political work. As a result of his activities, the size of the party increased significantly, and in May 2005, when the cabinet resigned due to an unsuccessful vote on the European Constitution, Sarkozy returned to the government to the post of minister of state specially restored for him, in fact the second person in the government.

It should be noted that Nicolas Sarkozy always emphasized the presence of personal strength, the ability to make decisions and take personal responsibility for them. For example, in 1993, he became famous for personally negotiating with a terrorist who took children hostage in a Neuilly kindergarten. As Minister of the Interior, he had to look for solutions to many pressing problems: crime in the suburbs of large cities, a wave of anti-Semitism, tension in the Muslim community, the aggravation of the situation in Corsica, a traditional hotbed of tension.

Sarkozy's decisive steps to stabilize the situation in the country have repeatedly brought accusations against him of encroaching on civil rights. He expanded the powers of the police and law enforcement agencies, strengthened measures to combat prostitution, and tightened control on the roads, which reduced the number of accidents. During the riots in the suburbs of Paris in 2005, Sarkozy, without much ceremony, called the participants “hooligans and scum.”

At the same time, Sarkozy is able to demonstrate a balanced and flexible position. Consistently insisting on the adoption of French republican values ​​by Islamic communities (for example, regarding the wearing of headscarves), he nevertheless supported the creation of a private, non-profit French Council for the Muslim Religion in 2003. Sarkozy also proposed changing the 1905 law on the separation of church and state to allow treasury funding for religious organizations, limiting foreign donations that contributed to increased radicalism.

In May 2007, after the second round of voting in the French presidential elections, Nicolas Sarkozy confidently defeated his opponent, Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal (53%). Given Sarkozy's character, his inauguration ceremony on May 16, 2007 could not have happened without a deviation from protocol. During Sarkozy's motorcade through the city, in violation of protocol, he came out several times to greet the people.

The period of Nicolas Sarkozy's presidency was also accompanied by a number of hotly debated episodes. For example, shortly after taking office, he increased his salary by 140% and cut taxes, which caused a negative reaction in society.

In October 2007, Sarkozy's second marriage, to Cecilia, broke up, and until Nicolas's marriage to Carla Bruni on February 2, 2008, France did not have a first lady. Sarkozy became the first president to marry while in office. It should be noted that Sarkozy has always been and remains strongly opposed to interference in his personal life.

Regarding his philosophical and ideological views, Sarkozy wrote the following in his book “Republic, Religion and Hope” (2004): “I belong to the Catholic culture, the Catholic tradition, the Catholic faith.” In one of his interviews, he also said that Christianity has left “a huge legacy of cultural, moral, intellectual and spiritual values.” It is known that Sarkozy speaks out for traditional heterosexual marriage and against euthanasia.

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One of the most important things that a great politician must have is an untarnished reputation. In the case of Nicolas Sarkozy, or “Sarco”, as his compatriots like to call him, it was not possible to keep his reputation clean.Amateur. mediarecalls interesting facts from the life of the former French president, about whose personal life almost more is known than about his political decisions.

He's still a student

Little Nicolas, continually receiving bad grades at the Catholic school where his grandfather sent him, became another clear proof that a politician does not always need to have an excellent education.

Nicolas Sarkozy never graduated from the Institute of Political Sciences

At Nicolas’s school, according to various testimonies, things were not very sweet: firstly, after the divorce of his father and mother, his family was in a very difficult financial situation, and secondly, of the native French - which was quite important then - Sarkozy had only grandmother.

Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy

The situation did not fundamentally change at the university: Nicolas was still able to receive a law degree from the University of Paris X, but he never received the coveted document from the Institute of Political Sciences, where he continued his studies due to his poor knowledge of English.

Love inconstancy

Anyone can make a mistake when choosing a life partner, but it so happens that Sarkozy made a mistake more than once. His first marriage took place in 1982: then Nicolas married Marie-Dominique Cuglioli, a hot girl from a Corsican village. In their marriage, Nicolas and Marie had two sons, which, however, did not prevent Nicolas from one day leaving his post as head of the family.

Sarkozy met his future wife at a wedding

The most interesting thing is that Sarkozy met his future wife at a wedding, and his chosen one played an important role in it - she was the bride. As the mayor of a small town, Sarkozy had his eye on the wife of the head of the local TV channel. It was not difficult for such an eccentric and gallant man as Nicolas to convince the girl: and so, after some time, in 1996, Cecilia Martin walked down the aisle once again, now next to the prominent politician Nicolas Sarkozy.

Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy

The family life of the Sarkozy couple was destined for a difficult fate: constantly being under the gun of television cameras and cameras, the married couple existed for about ten years, after which, in 2007, a complex divorce process followed, discussed by almost everyone. At the same time, the former spouses parted ways forever: Cecilia found herself a new husband, and Nicolas did not remain in debt, and already in 2008 he had a new wedding with top model Carla Bruni. For a well-known weakness towards women, the French themselves nicknamed their president “Sarko zizi”, which in a fairly conventional translation into literary language can be described as “that male”.

Libyan money

Sarkozy called all the accusations against him regarding Libyan money “ridiculous”

In March 2011, when Nicolas Sarkozy was still at the helm of the state, Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam made a resonant statement. The latter spoke with all confidence that Sarkozy's 2006 presidential campaign was sponsored by none other than his father, Muammar Gaddafi. According to Saif, his father spent about $50 million to promote Sarkozy to the first echelon of power.

Gaddafi allegedly spent about $50 million to promote Sarkozy

Sarkozy immediately called all the documents that confirmed this data “fake,” and the check of the election campaign financing by the French prosecutor’s office for some reason did not produce any results.

Family matters

Another scandal firmly associated with the name of the ex-president of France occurred in 2009 with the participation of his son Jean Sarkozy. As a result of several political operations, the leadership of multimillion-dollar projects to improve Europe's largest business center ended up in the hands of second-year law student Jean Sarkozy. Moreover, the latter in his interviews emphasized that project management is the result of his long and painstaking work.

Jean Sarkozy

Many politicians then accused the elder Sarkozy of wanting to seize power on all fronts through family connections. However, the president’s supporters responded by saying that a certificate of secondary education, which is the only one Jean has so far, cannot in any way affect his competence.