Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of the French Republic
Nicholas Sarkozy was born in Paris on January 28, 1955. He was educated in public law and political sciences. He is a lawyer.
Nicolas Sarkozy began his political career early. He became a member of the city council of the Paris suburb Nelly-sur-Seine at the age of 21, in 1977. He was elected mayor of Nelly-sur-Seine in 1983. He was a member of the Regional Council of the capital region Ile-de-France in 1983-88. He was a member of the secretariat, vice-president of the General Council of the Upper Seine department in 1985-88.
He was a member of the French National Assembly representing the department of Upper Seine from 1988, and was re-elected there in 1993, 1995 and 1997. He was a member of the European Parliament, representing the group Union for Europe, from July till September 1999.
Nicolas Sarkozy was a member of the political secretariat and a press secretary for the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UPM) from 1995.
In 1998-1999 he held the post of UPM Chairman and Secretary General.
He was a Minister of Budget Planning in 1993.
He was a government press secretary in 1993-94.
He was Acting Minister of Public Relations in January - April, 1995.
He was a Minister of the Interior, Home Security and Local Government in the Right-wing government of Jean Pierre Raffarin from May, 2002.
He was Minister of State, Minister of Economics, Finance and Industry, co-chairman of the Russian-French Council for Economic, Financial, Industrial and Trade Questions in March - November, 2004.
He worked as Minister of the Interior and Development, in order of ceremonial seniority being in fact the second person in the government of Dominic de Villepin in June, 2005 - March, 2007.
Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of the French Republic on May 6, 2007, gaining 53.06% of votes. His rival, socialist Segolene Royal, won 46.94% of votes.
The first meeting between Vladimir Putin and President Nicolas Sarkozy took place at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, on June 7. Nicolas Sarkozy paid a working visit to Russia on October 9-10, 2007.
Nicolas Sarkozy is a strong and experienced politician, skillful orator and debater. He has a reputation as a pragmatist.
He is the author of the books: "Georges Mandel: le moine de la politique" ("George Mandel. Political Monk", 1994), "Au bout de la passion, l'équilibre" ("At the Edge of Passion, the Balance", 1995), "Libre" ("Free", 2001), and "Testimony" (2006).
He has two sons from his first marriage, and a son from the second. He divorced his second wife, Cécilia Sarkozy, in October, 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy married the singer and model Karla Bruni on February 2, 2008.
