
On the evening of April 9th, within the Hôtel de Matignon – the office and residence of the French Prime Minister – François Bayrou received a page from the newspaper L’Eclair, dated May 2, 1936. The moment occurred against a backdrop of global uncertainty: France’s economic growth had just been revised downwards, international trade tensions were brewing, and concerns mounted over escalating conflict in Ukraine.
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The newspaper clipping featured a photograph of Lucien Bayrou (1883-1949), the Prime Minister’s paternal great-uncle. Lucien, a prominent figure in the Bayrou family, had been a candidate in the 1936 legislative elections, running against Léon Blum, a leading figure in the French Socialist movement who later headed the government before and after World War II. The Prime Minister, who carries Lucien’s name as a middle name, acknowledged the photograph with familiarity, noting he possessed the original at home. Lucien was known as an intellectual and the most politically engaged member of the Bayrou family.