Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (born February 2, 1926 in Koblenz, Germany) is a French politician who was President of the Republic from 1974 until 1981. He is a son of Edmond Giscard d'Estaing (1892-1982), a French civil servant, and his wife, May Bardoux, who was a daughter of French senator and academicien Jacques Bardoux and a great-granddaughter of French minister of state education Agénor Bardoux . He was educated at the École Polytechnique and the École nationale d'administration. He is one of the fiercest proponents of the United States of Europe. He is currently serving as: President of the Convention on the Future of Europe President of the CEMR (Council of European Municipalities and Regions) A member of the Académie française His name is often shortened to "Giscard" or even "VGE" by the French media. A less flattering nickname is l'Ex (the Ex), as he is, as of 2004, the only surviving former president of France and is still in politics. In 1952, Giscard married Anne-Aymone Sauvage de Brantes, a daughter of the Marquis de Brantes and his wife, Princess Aymone de Faucigny-Lucinge. They have four children: Valerie-Anne, Henri, Louis and Jacinte. He is an uncle of French artist Aurore Giscard d'Estaing, who is married to the American actor Timothy Hutton. Preceded by: Georges Pompidou President of France Succeeded by: François Mitterrand External links Curriculum Vitae (CEMR website) Bio on the French National Assembly website (in French) http://www.giscarddestaing.com/ Personal website (in French) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.