Death of Jacques Auxiette, former president of the region

Stephane Mahe via Reuters

DEATH – Jacques Auxiette, former PS president of the Pays de Loire region and long mayor of La-Roche-sur-Yon, died this Saturday, December 11 at the age of 81, we learned from his entourage .

Born in Indre in 1940, Jacques Auxiette led a long professional career in teaching in Vendée. At the same time, he is committed to Socialist Party in the 1970s. In 1977, he became mayor of La-Roche-Sur-Yon, a position he held until 2004. He gave it up on that date to take up the post of president of the region where he had been elected councilor. for the first time in 1979.

Reelected at the head of the Regional Council in 2010, he had decided not to stand for re-election in 2015.

Tributes followed one another from his political friends as well as from his adversaries.

“His commitment, his intelligence and his passion for Pays de la Loire made him an esteemed and respected President of the Region, well beyond his political camp”, wrote the current president of the region, Christelle Morancais (LR) in a communicated.

I want to pay tribute to my predecessor Jacques Auxiette, who has just left us. His commitment, his intelligence and his passion for the Pays de la Loire made him an esteemed and respected president, far beyond his political camp. Thoughts of his family his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/KbBn5KKZyB

– Christelle MORANÇAIS (@C_MORANCAIS) December 11, 2021

“Despite our disagreements, I respected him. We had the same conception of politics: he led an action in the service of his convictions ”, tweeted Senator LR, Vendéen like him, Bruno Retailleau who succeeded him at the head of the regional council in 2015.

Despite our disagreements, I respected him. We had the same conception of politics: he took action in the service of his convictions. My homage to Jacques #Auxiette : pic.twitter.com/hQ4p3vo9eR

– Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) December 11, 2021

“Sadness, at the memory of shared fights as well as of accepted differences. Jacques Auxiette has worked a lot for the #paysdelaloir region ”, tweeted the deputy. Francois de Rugy, who sat on the Regional Council as EELV under the chairmanship of the deceased elected.

Sadness, at the memory of shared fights as well as of accepted differences.
Jacques Auxiette has done a lot for the region #Pays de la Loire
To his relatives and to his comrades, I send my condolences, with the fond memory of the passion which animated him when he spoke of Fontevraud. pic.twitter.com/rJzYVX6LWQ

– François de Rugy (@FdeRugy) December 11, 2021

For her part, the mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland (PS) hailed “the man of conviction (…) tireless fighter for secularism, equality and fraternity”.

Very great sadness and deep emotion after the disappearance of Jacques Auxiette. He is a man of conviction, a great Mayor and President of the Region, close to his fellow citizens, who disappears. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.#JacquesAuxiettepic.twitter.com/g62Jvni7oS

– Johanna Rolland (@Johanna_Rolland) December 11, 2021

As for his former friends from the Regional Council, gathered within the “Printemps des Pays de la Loire”, they “salute the memory of Jacques Auxiette, express their deepest gratitude for his action, and will continue the fights for equality and territories he has always led ”.

Below, other reactions to the death of Jacques Auxiette:

Ex prime minister @Jean-Marc Ayrault pays tribute to Jacques Auxiette who died yesterday: “He was persevering, he never gave up. He will be remembered by those who have a high idea of ​​politics. He was a man of the left but also an educator. “

– Arnaud Wajdzik (@awajdzik) December 11, 2021

Sad to learn of the death of Jacques Auxiette, he who embodied this socialism in Vendée and Pays-de-la-Loire made of strong convictions and also openness and tolerance https://t.co/gBwZ6cU2m9

– François Kalfon (@francoiskalfon) December 11, 2021

Jacques Auxiette was close to the inhabitants of his Town as well as of his Region.
I salute the memory of the man of values ​​and commitment that he was and I extend my condolences to his family and to all those who have worked with him in his various mandates.https://t.co/XQrgwDTx1x

– Carole Delga (@CaroleDelga) December 11, 2021

Great sadness to lose Jacques Auxiette, a friend whom I knew as mayor of La Roche-sur-Yon. Great humanist, secular, close to his fellow citizens, a beautiful figure of the Left.

– François Rebsamen (@frebsamen) December 11, 2021

Also on The HuffPost: