List of presidents of France by longevity
This is a list of Presidents of France by age. This table can be sorted to display the Presidents by name, order of office, date of birth, age at inauguration, length of retirement, or lifespan.
Two measures of longevity are given; this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within the life of each President. The first figure is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; in parentheses the same period given in years and days, with the years being the number of whole years the President lived, and the days being the remaining number of days after his last birthday. Where the president in question is still living, the longevity is calculated up to.
Overview
The median age of accession is roughly 60 years and 257 days, which falls between Albert Lebrun and Gaston Doumergue. The youngest person to assume office was Emmanuel Macron. The oldest person to assume office was Adolphe Thiers.The oldest living former president is Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, born 2 February 1926. He is also the longest-lived president since at the age of when he outlived Émile Loubet, who died at the age of. The youngest living former president is Nicolas Sarkozy, born 28 January 1955. The youngest living president is the incumbent, Emmanuel Macron, born 21 December 1977. The shortest-lived president was Sadi Carnot, who was killed in office at the age of 56 years, 318 days.
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has the distinction of having the longest retirement of any former president, currently at since leaving office on 21 May 1981. He surpassed the previous record, held by Émile Loubet on 22 March 2005. The president with the shortest retirement is François Mitterrand, who died on 8 January 1996, 236 days after he left office on 17 May 1995.
French Presidents
This List contains:Presidents | 25 |
Living | 4 |
Deceased | 21 |
Months & Zodiacs
Order | President | Date of Birth | Zodiac sign | 1 | Nicolas Sarkozy | 28 January | Aquarius | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2 | Félix Faure | 30 January | 3 | Valéry d’Estaing | 2 February | - | Aquarius | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
4 | Alexandre Millerand | 10 February | - | - | - | - | Aquarius | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5 | Paul Deschanel | 13 February | 6 | René Coty | 20 March | Pisces | Aquarius | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7 | Paul Doumer | 22 March | Aries | 8 | Adolphe Thiers | 16 April | Aquarius | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
9 | Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte | 20 April | Aries | 10 | Patrice de Mac-Mahon | 13 June | Gemini | 11 | Georges Pompidou | 5 July | Cancer | 12 | Gaston Doumergue | 1 August | Leo |
13 | Sadi Carnot | 11 August | Aries | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Leo |
14 | François Hollande | 12 August | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Leo |
15 | Jules Grévy | 15 August | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Leo |
16 | Raymond Poincaré | 20 August | 17 | Vincent Auriol | 27 August | Virgo | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Leo |
18 | Albert Lebrun | 29 August | 19 | François Mitterrand | 26 October | Virgo | Scorpio | 20 | Armand Fallières | 6 November | - | - | - | - | - |
21 | Jean Casimir-Perier | 8 November | - | - | - | - | Scorpio | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
22 | Charles de Gaulle | 22 November | Sagittarius | - | - | - | Scorpio | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
23 | Jacques Chirac | 29 November | Sagittarius | 24 | Emmanuel Macron | 21 December | Capricorn | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
25 | Émile Loubet | 31 December | - | - | - | - | Capricorn | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Oldest living Presidents of France
Not all presidents live to become the oldest of their time. Of the 21 deceased presidents, 17 eventually became the oldest of their time, while 4 did not. Émile Loubet became the oldest living president when Félix Faure died in 1899 and remained so until his death in 1929, for a record single period of 30 years, 307 days. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing surpassed Loubet's record on 18 November 2019, however because Giscard d'Estaing has held this distinction on two separate occasions, Loubet's record for a single period still stands. Jean Casimir-Perier became the oldest living president after the death of Marie Carnot, but he held this distinction for only 206 days.On four occasions the oldest living president lost this distinction not by his death, but due to the inauguration of a president who was older. Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte lost this distinction when Adolphe Thiers was inaugurated. Jean Casimir-Perier lost this distinction when Félix Faure was inaugurated. Vincent Auriol lost this distinction when René Coty was inaugurated, but when Coty died in 1962, Auriol regained it again until his own death in 1966 for a total period of 6 years, 356 days. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing lost this distinction when François Mitterrand was inaugurated, but regained it again when Mitterrand died. Consequently, Giscard d'Estaing too was the oldest living president twice: first from 1974 to 1981, and a second time since Mitterand's death in 1996 for a record total period so far of.
Armand Fallières was the oldest to acquire this distinction at the age of 88 years, 44 days. Jacques Chirac, who was aged 86 years, 301 days when he died on 26 September 2019, was the oldest and most recent president to die without ever acquiring this distinction.
President | Became oldest living president | Ceased to be oldest living president | Age at start date | Age at end date | Duration |
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte | 20 12 1848 | 31 8 1871 | |||
Adolphe Thiers | 31 8 1871 | 3 9 1877 | |||
Jules Grévy | 3 9 1877 | 9 9 1891 | |||
Patrice de Mac-Mahon | 9 9 1891 | 16 10 1893 | |||
Marie Carnot | 16 10 1893 | 25 6 1894 | |||
Jean Casimir-Perier | 25 6 1894 | 17 1 1895 | |||
Félix Faure | 17 1 1895 | 16 2 1899 | |||
Émile Loubet | 16 2 1899 | 20 12 1929 | |||
Armand Fallières | 20 12 1929 | 22 6 1931 | |||
Paul Doumer | 22 6 1931 | 7 5 1932 | |||
Alexandre Millerand | 7 5 1932 | 7 4 1943 | |||
Albert Lebrun | 7 4 1943 | 6 3 1950 | |||
Vincent Auriol | 6 3 1950 | 16 1 1954 | |||
René Coty | 16 1 1954 | 22 11 1962 | |||
Vincent Auriol | 22 11 1962 | 1 1 1966 | |||
Charles de Gaulle | 1 1 1966 | 9 11 1970 | |||
Georges Pompidou | 9 11 1970 | 2 4 1974 | |||
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | 27 05 1974 | 21 5 1981 | |||
François Mitterrand | 21 5 1981 | 8 1 1996 | |||
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | 8 1 1996 | Current oldest living president | Current oldest living president | ||
President | Became oldest living president | Ceased to be oldest living president | Age at start date | Age at end date | Duration |
Trivia
- Births by Century
- *18th century: 1st, Adolphe Thiers
- *19th century: 1st, Jules Grevy; last, Charles de Gaulle
- *20th century: 1st, Georges Pompidou; most recent, Emmanuel Macron
- Deaths by Century
- *19th century: 1st, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte; last, Felix Faure
- *20th century: 1st, Jean Casimir-Perier; last, François Mitterrand
- *21st century: 1st and most recent, Jacques Chirac.
- Between the births of Adolphe Thiers in 1797 and Emmanuel Macron in 1977, a President has been born in every decade except for the 1810s, 1820s, 1900s, 1940s and 1960s.
- Between the deaths of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte in 1873 and Jacques Chirac in 2019, a President has died in every decade except for the 1880s, 1910s, 1980s and 2000s.
- The months with the most presidential births – seven – in August.
- No president as of yet, has been born in May, or September.
- The months with the most presidential deaths – three – each in January, April, June and September.
- No president as of yet, has died in July or August