26 September 2019
When great people pass away, it is most often a significant, but distant loss. In the case of Jacques Chirac, this is not entirely the case.
Indeed for a large number of those who worked and studied at MGIMO over the last quarter of a century, the French president was not an abstract thought. Jacques Chirac came to our University many times, as surprising as it still seems now. It was perfectly natural for him to be Honorary Doctor of MGIMO. At the start of his presidency, the first Russian-French dual MA program was created and led for decades by someone who was close to him. The President himself, a graduate of Sciences Po, was the patron of MGIMO and the Paris Institute of Political Science’s joint program. Jacques Chirac signed many presidential decrees awarding French orders to our professors and recognizing their skills. President Chirac’s administration was always ready to support Russian-French expert and social projects. MGIMO graduates, who went on to become translators and diplomats, confirm based on their many encounters with the President, that Jacques Chirac had a deep knowledge of and profound affection for Russia.
Last year, in the frame of the Trianon Dialogue, Jacques Chirac’s correspondence with Boris Yeltsin was published. President Chirac received a copy of the book but could not come in person to the presentation, as he was ill. A while back, a prominent Russian journalist and a close friend of MGIMO started to put together a documentary film about Jacques Chirac. The film will be projected in the coming weeks in memory of Jacques Chirac.
— See the MGIMO web-site for russian version
