User:Langlaise/Jany Le Pen

Jany Le Pen (pronounced [lə pɛn]), born Jeanne-Marie Paschos on 17th June 1932 in Nice, is the second wife of Jean-Marie Le Pen, to whom she has been married since 1991.

Early Life
Jeanne-Marie (or Jeannine) Louise Paschos born to a Greek father, an art dealer, and a French/Dutch mother,.

A previous follower of Lutheranism, she converted to Catholicism in 2021.

After her studies in Nice, Paris, Lyon and at The Collège Cévenol, she obtained French nationality in adulthood, in 1950,.

In 1953, at 21 years old, she married Belgian businessman, Jean Garnier, in London who notably had businesses in Marbella. The couple had no children and divorced en 1984.

Jean-Marie Le Pen's Wife
In Spring 1985, at her home in Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine), she invited Jean-Marie Le Pen, president and founder of the Front national (FN). She talks on the subject: "A friend phoned me and said: « You who is so good at throwing parites, couldn't even invite a freind of mine? He is divorced and even though he lives with his three daughters, he feels a bit lonely. »" They became a couple in the following year — whilst Jean-Marie Le Pen went through a heated divorce procedure with his wife Pierrette Le Pen — and married on May 31st, 1991 in Rueil-Malmaison. The couple then moved to the family estate of Montretout, which Jean-Marie Le Pen had left vacant for some time.

During the 1995 French presidential election, guest of Journal de 13 heures of France 2, Jany Le Pen claimed to be one of those 'somewhat frivolous women' disinterested by politics until she met her husband, whom she now declares to share her views. When talking about the role she would have liked to have to exercise in the even of the election of Jean-Marie Le Pen as President of the Republic, she assured that she would have been satisfied with the simple role of representing the devoid of a political connotation or activism unlike the outgoing First Lady, Danielle Mitterrand. In 1999, Jean-Marie Le Pen publicly planned to have his wife lead the FN in the European Parliament election in the event of ineligibility confirmed by the courts, thus dismissing the number two of the party, Bruno Mégret who considered this decision a casus belli. But, although the polls put her at the same level as Bruno Mégret if he was leading the FN list (13 %), Jany Le Pen refused to be a candidate and her husband was finally allowed to stand,.

Jany Le Pen was more discrete during the presidential campaigns led by her husband in 2002 — during which he managed to qualify for the second round of the election against Jacques Chirac — then in 2007. Jean-Marie Le Pen left the head of the FN in 2011.

The couple married religiously on 16th January 2021, during a ceremony celebrate by Father Philippe Laguérie.

Humanitarian Work
Following the embargo decided in 1995 by the United Nations Security Council against l’Iraq, she took over presidency of the 'SOS Enfants d'Irak' association and made several trips to bring medicines and medical equipment. She also participated in soup kitchens organised by Entraide française, a Protestant association close to the FN.

While her candidacy was being considered for the 1999 European elections, Jany Le Pen promised to sit on committees 'relating to nature, animals, and humanitarian aid'. She states particulairly to admire Brigitte Bardot for her defense of animal rights.

Her political involvement is sometimes mixed with her humanitarian work. In 2007, she went to Cameroon with French comedienne Dieudonné to inform the French community in the country of the main aims of Jean-Marie Le Pen's political program and to carry out some humanitarian projects. In Douala, she inaugurated « Jany Le Pen bridge », financed by head of the company and FN elect, Jean-Pierre Barbier, met the Pygmy people of Kribi, then was greeted by First Lady, Chantal Biya, who wished her good luck for the French presidential election for which her husband was running.

She is also a sponsor of l'Action sociale populaire (ASP), an association that helps homeless people founded by Pastor Jean-Pierre Blanchard.