Former French PM Lionel Jospin Dies at 88

Lionel Jospin, the former Socialist prime minister of France who led the country from 1997 to 2002 and shaped key social reforms, died on Sunday at the age of 88, his family announced on Monday in Paris.

Jospin, born on July 12, 1937, in the Paris suburb of Meudon to Protestant parents active in socialist causes, built a career rooted in left-wing politics. His father, Robert, was an educator and organizer for the French Section of the Workers' International, the predecessor to the modern Socialist Party, while his mother, Mireille, worked as a midwife and social worker. A brilliant student, Jospin graduated from the Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris and the elite École Nationale d'Administration, joining the foreign ministry before entering politics. His views were influenced by the Algerian War of independence and the 1968 worker-student protests. He joined the newly formed Socialist Party in 1969, rising to become its first secretary under President François Mitterrand in the 1980s and serving as education minister.

In 1997, Jospin became prime minister after his Plural Left coalition, which included communists and greens, won legislative elections, leading to a period of...