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| Michel Rocard, Former Prime Minister of France, Dies at 85 | Michel Rocard, Former Prime Minister of France, Dies at 85 |
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| PARIS — Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister who embodied a pragmatic, market-friendly element in the Socialist Party, but whose reformist zeal encountered powerful countercurrents on the left, died on Saturday in Paris. He was 85. | PARIS — Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister who embodied a pragmatic, market-friendly element in the Socialist Party, but whose reformist zeal encountered powerful countercurrents on the left, died on Saturday in Paris. He was 85. |
| His death, after a long illness, was announced by the French government, which did not provide the cause. | His death, after a long illness, was announced by the French government, which did not provide the cause. |
| Mr. Rocard served only three years as prime minister, from 1988 to 1991, but his lasting influence on the Socialists outstripped his brief tenure and relatively modest accomplishments in office. | Mr. Rocard served only three years as prime minister, from 1988 to 1991, but his lasting influence on the Socialists outstripped his brief tenure and relatively modest accomplishments in office. |
| The two men identified as the leading reformers in the current Socialist government, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, both locked in struggle with the party’s left, count themselves as Mr. Rocard’s disciples. Mr. Valls worked for Mr. Rocard when he was prime minister. | The two men identified as the leading reformers in the current Socialist government, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, both locked in struggle with the party’s left, count themselves as Mr. Rocard’s disciples. Mr. Valls worked for Mr. Rocard when he was prime minister. |
| Mr. Rocard served under President François Mitterrand, and the two political veterans’ mutual detestation was legendary in French politics, with analysts generally characterizing Mr. Mitterrand as a wily maneuverer of no fixed principles and Mr. Rocard as his opposite. | Mr. Rocard served under President François Mitterrand, and the two political veterans’ mutual detestation was legendary in French politics, with analysts generally characterizing Mr. Mitterrand as a wily maneuverer of no fixed principles and Mr. Rocard as his opposite. |
| But Mr. Mitterrand was in some ways forced to appoint Mr. Rocard as prime minister in the spring of 1988: The younger man was among the most popular political figures in France. His signature accomplishment in office was the creation of a guaranteed minimum income for France’s poorest, known as the R.M.I., a measure widely credited with keeping inequality in the country at a relatively low level. | But Mr. Mitterrand was in some ways forced to appoint Mr. Rocard as prime minister in the spring of 1988: The younger man was among the most popular political figures in France. His signature accomplishment in office was the creation of a guaranteed minimum income for France’s poorest, known as the R.M.I., a measure widely credited with keeping inequality in the country at a relatively low level. |
| Short, trenchant, raspy-voiced, constantly puffing on harsh Gauloises cigarettes, Mr. Rocard was considered a rare intellectual in French politics, a voracious reader at home with ideas, but with a keen sense of the practical. | Short, trenchant, raspy-voiced, constantly puffing on harsh Gauloises cigarettes, Mr. Rocard was considered a rare intellectual in French politics, a voracious reader at home with ideas, but with a keen sense of the practical. |
| Editorials on Monday credited him with inspiring an entire generation of French Socialists, as the creator of a so-called Second Left, or even “American Left.” He was in turn the disciple of one of France’s greatest, albeit short-tenured, prime ministers, Pierre Mendès-France, who served in the 1950s. Mr. Rocard inherited from Mr. Mendès-France the idea that lofty social goals are useless unless they are buttressed by practical economic measures, the historian Alain Bergounioux wrote on Monday in Le Monde. | Editorials on Monday credited him with inspiring an entire generation of French Socialists, as the creator of a so-called Second Left, or even “American Left.” He was in turn the disciple of one of France’s greatest, albeit short-tenured, prime ministers, Pierre Mendès-France, who served in the 1950s. Mr. Rocard inherited from Mr. Mendès-France the idea that lofty social goals are useless unless they are buttressed by practical economic measures, the historian Alain Bergounioux wrote on Monday in Le Monde. |
| “He loved modernity, and he fought all of his life to modernize the left,” Mr. Valls told The Journal du Dimanche. | “He loved modernity, and he fought all of his life to modernize the left,” Mr. Valls told The Journal du Dimanche. |
| That desire brought Mr. Rocard up against powerful countercurrents in the French Socialist Party. Until his death, he made statements that went against Socialist orthodoxy, condemning a party that had failed to reform itself. | That desire brought Mr. Rocard up against powerful countercurrents in the French Socialist Party. Until his death, he made statements that went against Socialist orthodoxy, condemning a party that had failed to reform itself. |
| “Our social system kills the goose that lays the golden eggs,” Mr. Rocard told the newsmagazine Le Point in an extensive interview two weeks ago. “As many start-ups are born every year in France as in Germany, except that they die in the first five years because of taxes and the excessive weight of bureaucracy.” | “Our social system kills the goose that lays the golden eggs,” Mr. Rocard told the newsmagazine Le Point in an extensive interview two weeks ago. “As many start-ups are born every year in France as in Germany, except that they die in the first five years because of taxes and the excessive weight of bureaucracy.” |
| “Other countries got rid of Marxism,” Mr. Rocard continued. “Not France. While everywhere else reformist social democracy emerged, converted to a market economy that was regulated to limit unemployment and inequality, the French Left stands alone.” | “Other countries got rid of Marxism,” Mr. Rocard continued. “Not France. While everywhere else reformist social democracy emerged, converted to a market economy that was regulated to limit unemployment and inequality, the French Left stands alone.” |
| Mr. Rocard was born on Aug. 23, 1930, in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie, the son of Yves Rocard, a renowned physicist who was one of the fathers of France’s nuclear program, and Renée Favre, a teacher. | Mr. Rocard was born on Aug. 23, 1930, in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie, the son of Yves Rocard, a renowned physicist who was one of the fathers of France’s nuclear program, and Renée Favre, a teacher. |
| He attended the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, the elite school that trains most of France’s top politicians. He entered the bureaucracy as a high-level economic functionary, was active in the small socialist groups that preceded the modern Socialist Party and opposed the Algerian war. The enmity between him and Mr. Mitterrand was born in this period, he was later to say, when he called Mr. Mitterrand, then the justice minister, a murderer for his harsh role in dealing with the Algerian war of independence. | He attended the Ecole Nationale d’Administration, the elite school that trains most of France’s top politicians. He entered the bureaucracy as a high-level economic functionary, was active in the small socialist groups that preceded the modern Socialist Party and opposed the Algerian war. The enmity between him and Mr. Mitterrand was born in this period, he was later to say, when he called Mr. Mitterrand, then the justice minister, a murderer for his harsh role in dealing with the Algerian war of independence. |
| Mr. Rocard ran for president in 1969 but received few votes, joined Mr. Mitterrand’s newly formed Socialists in 1974 and was shunted off to the Agriculture Ministry in the new Socialist president’s government in 1983. | |
| His tenure as prime minister was typically stormy, buffeted by strikes, demonstrations and never-ending demands for government funds by France’s various groups — the police, postal and transport workers, nurses, and others. | His tenure as prime minister was typically stormy, buffeted by strikes, demonstrations and never-ending demands for government funds by France’s various groups — the police, postal and transport workers, nurses, and others. |
| Mr. Mitterrand could not wait to get rid of him, and in 1991 he named a loyal aide, Édith Cresson, to replace him, effectively ending Mr. Rocard’s political career. | Mr. Mitterrand could not wait to get rid of him, and in 1991 he named a loyal aide, Édith Cresson, to replace him, effectively ending Mr. Rocard’s political career. |
| Mr. Rocard later said of Mr. Mitterrand, “The profound contempt I have for his lack of ethics corresponds to my total admiration for his tactical skill.” | Mr. Rocard later said of Mr. Mitterrand, “The profound contempt I have for his lack of ethics corresponds to my total admiration for his tactical skill.” |
| Mr. Rocard’s death left a “frustration,” Le Monde wrote Monday: “the frustration of realizing that the qualities recognized in Michel Rocard — a demand for morality in politics, an unshakable engagement for his ideas, an inexhaustible openness — seem so lacking today.” | Mr. Rocard’s death left a “frustration,” Le Monde wrote Monday: “the frustration of realizing that the qualities recognized in Michel Rocard — a demand for morality in politics, an unshakable engagement for his ideas, an inexhaustible openness — seem so lacking today.” |
| A national tribute will be held on Thursday at Les Invalides, an honor reserved for the country’s top statesmen. | A national tribute will be held on Thursday at Les Invalides, an honor reserved for the country’s top statesmen. |
| He is survived by his third wife, Sylvie Pélissier, and four children, Sylvie, Francis, Olivier and Loïc. | He is survived by his third wife, Sylvie Pélissier, and four children, Sylvie, Francis, Olivier and Loïc. |