He left the political scene as he lived, quietly. Former Secretary of State and former minister of François Mitterrand, Jean Le Garrec died on Sunday February 19 in Paris, at the age of 93. He had been very weak for several years.
Born on August 9, 1929 at the Palace, in Belle-Ile-en-Mer (Morbihan), after studying at the Lycée de Cahors and the Faculty of Law in Toulouse, he entered, in 1952, as a civil servant, at the PTT. In 1955, he joined the private sector and was, until 1981, a senior executive at IBM. Married to Evelyne David, a renowned feminist journalist (who died in 2018), he has a son, Ivan.
Jean Le Garrec has the heart on the left and he joined the Unified Socialist Party (PSU) in 1967, of which he was national secretary from 1972 to 1974, the year he followed Michel Rocard to the Socialist Party (PS). Close to Pierre Mauroy, of whom he will be a faithful of the faithful, he presents himself, for the first time, in March 1978, in the legislative elections in the North but he will not be elected until June 21, 1981, for one month, because of his entry into government. Re-elected MP in 1986, 1988, 1997 and 2002, he was also municipal councilor of Cambrai (1983-1995) and regional councilor of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (1992-2004).
Empathy and kindness
“It’s extremely difficult”, used to say this debonair pipe smoker, with a mischievous air, laughing eyes, before each obstacle that he crossed without difficulty, always showing pragmatism. Jean Le Garrec did not hide his strong socialist convictions – exposed in several books including Tomorrow France (The Discovery, 1984) and A life on the left (Editions de l’Aube, 2006) – but he showed empathy and benevolence towards others. For Patrick Kanner, socialist senator from the North, “He was a seducer and a great worker, always attentive and attentive”.
On May 22, 1981, Jean Le Garrec was appointed Secretary of State, without assignment, to the Prime Minister, Pierre Mauroy. From June 23, 1981 to June 29, 1982, he was responsible, as Secretary of State, for the extension of the public sector. As such, he will manage nationalizations and will endeavor to “democratize” social relations in the companies concerned. Minister delegate in charge of employment from June 29, 1982 to March 22, 1983, he again became Secretary of State, from March 24, 1983 to July 23, 1984, in charge of the IXe Plan. It carries the first law of social economy, that of July 20, 1983 which creates the artisanal cooperative societies. In the government of Laurent Fabius, he leads, at the same rank, the public service.
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