- Title: Students of Chirac's high school bid him adieu with minute of silence
- Date: 30th September 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 30, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FRENCH EDUCATION MINISTER, JEAN-MICHEL BLANQUER, PRESIDING OVER COMMEMORATION CEREMONY FOR LATE FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT, JACQUES CHIRAC, WITH STUDENTS OF LOUIS-LE-GRAND HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE CHIRAC SPENT HIS HIGH SCHOOL YEARS VARIOUS OF STUDENTS GATHERED DURING MINUTE OF SILENCE STUDENTS APPLAUDING AFTER MINUTE OF SILENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) 19-YEAR-OLD LOUIS-LE-GRAND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT, ADRIEN CHANONI, SAYING: "Chirac was from a different time, I think. It was the time of my childhood, there was a lot of nostalgia in this minute of silence. A lot of memories are coming back, my first memories of politics, the Pope's (John Paul II) visit in France with Chirac welcoming him, the first Bastille Day of my youth. Chirac represents the transition to the 21st century, progress, a lot of things. He's also the charismatic, modern politician. He carried different things, but then he stayed rather child-like and not really theoretical and excessively proper, as what an 18- or 19-year-old politician might be." STUDENTS GATHERED AT SCHOOL COURTYARD (SOUNDBITE) (French) 16-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, TESS GAILLARD, SAYING: "I think it's important to hold a minute of silence because this is a man who did a lot for France. I think his memory should really stay in the minds of young people because he was a president who had made his time remarkable. So, I think it's important for everyone here to take the time to pay tribute to him today." STUDENTS AT COURTYARD (SOUNDBITE) (French) 16-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, ADRIEN DUVAL, SAYING: "He was a great man. He was a man who was human, with beautiful human values, who has helped people a lot. He's a man that we should remember." STUDENTS AT COURTYARD
- Embargoed: 14th October 2019 16:20
- Keywords: Jacques Chirac former president France minute of silence Paris
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYUOLDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Students of late former French president Jacques Chirac's high school paid him tribute with a minute's silence on Monday (September 30).
Chirac, a political chameleon who dominated French politics for decades and strived to make France's voice heard in Europe and beyond, died on Thursday (September 26) at the age of 86.
Hundreds of high-school students joined the minute's silence, led by French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Though the students were still children when Chirac was president, they recalled some highlights such as when he welcomed Pope John Paul II to France, or when he led Bastille Day celebrations.
Chirac's old report cards and class photos are still housed at the institution, a reminder of the responsibilities students should uphold, high school principal Jean Bastianenni said.
Born in 1932 to a middle-class family from the rural central French region of Correze, Chirac began his political career in the late 1950's after studying at the elite Sciences Po University and ENA civil service academy.
Chirac was laid to rest at Montparnasse cemetery on Monday afternoon during a private burial ceremony.
The burial followed a military honours ceremony for Chirac at the Hotel des Invalides, during which French president Emmanuel Macron saluted his predecessor who served as the country's president for 12 years from 1995 to 2007.
(Production: Clotaire Achi, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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