The flags were at half mast in Calais this Saturday morning in tribute to Jean-Jacques Barthe, communist deputy and mayor of the city for three decades. Jean-Jacques Barthe, teacher elected mayor of Calais continuously from 1971 to 2000, and deputy from 1978 to 1988, died Friday in Calais at the age of 85. Communist since the age of 25, he retired from politics in 2000.
The current mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart, an elected right-winger who conquered the city from the Communists in 2008, praised on Facebook and Twitter a “man of conviction very attached to our city”, adding “his lofty view, his dedication deserve our respect “.
The Communist Party of Calaisis, emphasizing that it had managed the city with “realism and vision for the future”, recalled its “humility, its natural authority”, its “sense of justice (…) and of general interest “.
MP for Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont (LR) hailed a “sincere man” who left “an indelible mark in Calais”.