Born in Paris, he was the nephew of François Mitterrand (1916–1996), who was the president of France from 1981 to 1995, and the son of engineer Robert Mitterrand[1] (1915–2002) and Édith Cahier, the niece of Eugène Deloncle, the co-founder of "La Cagoule".[citation needed] Owing to his family heritage, Mitterrand acquired Tunisian citizenship in 1995.[2] He was openly bisexual.
Mitterrand attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris and studied history and geography at the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, and political science at Sciences Po. He taught economics, history, and geography at EABJM from 1968 to 1971. In 1978, he was a film critic at J'informe. From 1971 to 1986, he ran several art film cinemas in Paris (Olympic Palace, Entrepôt, and Olympic-Entrepôt).[3] He also had roles in a number of films, and in the 1980s was active as a producer and director in TV productions.[citation needed] Mitterrand also penned a monthly column for Têtu.[4]
Mitterrand's novel The Bad Life (French: La mauvaise vie), which mixed autobiographical and fictionalised elements, was the source of significant controversy. In the book he detailed his "delight" whilst visiting the male brothels of Bangkok, and wrote ..."I got into the habit of paying for boys ... The profusion of young, very attractive and immediately available boys put me in a state of desire I no longer needed to restrain or hide." Mitterrand's writings were applauded for their honesty at time of release, but resurfaced in a different light four years later following his defence of Roman Polanski, who had been detained in Switzerland and awaiting extradition to face American charges for sexually abusing a minor.[8]
On 5 October 2009, Marine Le Pen quoted sections of the book on French television, accusing him of having sex with underage boys and engaging in "sex tourism", demanding that Mitterrand resign from the government. He was also criticised by then-Socialist Party spokesman Benoît Hamon, who stated that "as a minister of culture, he has drawn attention to himself by defending [Polanski], and he has written a book where he said he took advantage of sexual tourism. To say the least, I find it shocking."[9] On the other hand, he received support from a close aide to Nicolas Sarkozy who said the French President backed his Culture Minister, describing the controversy around him as "pathetic".[10]
The novel's mixture of fact and fiction complicated his defense; while Mitterrand insisted that book was not an autobiography, the publisher described it as a "novel inspired by autobiography", and was similarly described as an "autobiographical novel" by the BBC.[1][11][12] In his own defence. Mitterrand stated, "Each time I was with people who were my age, or who were five years younger – there wasn't the slightest ambiguity – and who were consenting", and that he uses the term "boys" loosely, both in his life and in the book. He also declared, "I condemn sexual tourism, which is a disgrace. I condemn paedophilia, which I have never in any way participated in."[13]
Death
Following a year-long illness, Frédéric Mitterrand died from cancer on 21 March 2024, at the age of 76.[14][15]
Filmography
Mitterrand (left) at a 1990 film shoot
Actor
1960: Fortunat
1992: La collection secrète de Salvador Dalí by Otto Kelmer[16]
^12e Festival International du Film sur l´Art 8-13 mars 1994, Commanditaire Officiel (in French & English). Montréal: Pratt & Whitney Canada, 1994, p.35.
