Gérard Montassier

Born in modern-day Annaba, Algeria in 1937,^[2] Montassier earned a degree from Sciences Po in 1960^[3] and an agrégation in classical literature from the École nationale d'administration (ENA) in 1967.

Montassier first became a teacher at the Lycée de Saint-Quentin before becoming a secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He then became Secretary General of the Fonds d'intervention culturel^[4] and worked for the Ministry of Culture under Jacques Duhamel and Michel Guy [fr].^[5] He was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary of the Ministry in 1990.

Montassier was a member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and led its division in Charente from 1977 to 1981. He divorced and subsequently remarried Valérie-Anne Giscard d'Estaing [fr], who he met at the Ministry of Culture.^[6] In 1979, he ran in the Canton of Segonzac [fr] for the UDF, but was unsuccessful.^[7] In 1981, his candidacy for the National Assembly was invalidated due to late registration.^[8] A pro-European, he founded the Fondation internationale pour une histoire de la civilisation européenne and became its president in 1994.^[9] In 2013, he founded the Confrérie du cognac.^[10]

Gérard Montassier died on 19 April 2021 at the age of 83.

• Le Fait culturel (1980)
• Le 14 juillet 1989 (1982)
• Les Premiers Feux du plaisir : roman (1989)
• Les Nouveaux Conquérants : la France réconciliée (1989)
• L'Europe, cette inconnue (2007)
• Mazarin : l'étranger qui a fait la France (2015)