Danielle Mitterrand, the widow of former French president Francois Mitterrand and a campaigner for human rights, died today at the age of 87, government and Socialist Party sources said.
The former first lady, who was married to Mitterrand for 51 years, was suffering from respiratory problems and had been placed in an artificial coma at the Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris.
Danielle Mitterrand was a strident campaigner for the rights of minority groups such as the Kurds and Tibetans, lobbied for a fairer distribution of global resources and was a friend of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Her outspoken campaigns occasionally embarrassed her husband.
Born Danielle Gouze on October 29th, 1924 in Verdun near the German border, she was politically active from an early age, joining the French Resistance at 17 where she met her future husband. At the time, Mitterrand was head of a resistance network in Burgundy, operating under the code name "Francois Morland".
The couple married in October 1944 and Mitterrand went on to launch his political career in the Socialist party with Danielle by his side, eventually becoming president in May 1981.
Aside from her developing world campaigns, Danielle often commented on domestic politics, openly criticising conservative prime minister Jacques Chirac and later the immigration policies of interior minister Charles Pasqua.
When Mitterrand died in 1996, Danielle caused a stir by appearing at his funeral alongside his mistress Anne Pingeot, with whom he had a daughter, Mazarine.
She is survived by her two sons, Jean-Christophe and Gilbert. A third son, Pascal, died shortly after birth.
Reuters
