Obituary

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, Euro’s Founding Father, Dies at 94

As president of France, he wanted to create a unified Europe
Lost bid for a second term to socialist Francois Mitterrand

Giscard d’Estaing delivers a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in 2009.
Photographer: Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images

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By Gregory Viscusi

December 2, 2020 at 10:40 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, a former president of France who set European monetary union in motion, fathered the first draft of the European Union’s Constitution and helped create the Group of Eight forum, has died. He was 94.

A spokeswoman for the office of the French presidency confirmed his death via a text message Wednesday evening, without elaborating. Giscard, who led the nation from 1974 to 1981, was France’s youngest 20th century president.