Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was born on February 2, 1926 in Coblence.

After serving in the French Resistance, he enlisted at the age of 18 and participated in the French and German campaigns, for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

He completed his studies at the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, and joined the Inspection Générale des Finances in 1952, where he pursued an administrative carreer until 1956. He was Deputy Director first to the Office of the Minister of Finance, and then to Edgar Faure, President of the Council of Ministers.

1956 - 1974
ELECTIVE OFFICES

• Elected Deputy from the Puy-de-Dôme department in 1956. Re-elected four times to the National Assembly, serving until 1974.
• Elected Mayor of Chamalières (Puy-de-Dôme) in 1967 and 1971, serving until 1974.
• Elected to the General Council of the Puy-de-Dôme, serving from 1958 to 1974, elected again in March 1982.

GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS

• 1959 to 1962 - Secretary of State for Finance in the Finance Ministries of Antoine Pinay and Wilfrid Baumgartner
• 1962 to 1966 - Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs in the Debré and Pompidou Governments under President Charles de Gaulle.
• 1969 to 1974 - Minister of Economy and Finance in the Chaban-Delmas and Messmer Governments under President Georges Pompidou.

1974-1981
PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

At 48, he was elected President of the French Republic on 19 may 1974.

• During his term of office, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing played a crucial role in several international initiatives, among which were:
• Creation of the European Council, which regularly brought together the heads of government and the heads of state of the European Community, first in Paris in 1974.
• Election by universal suffrage of the European Parliament (decision of the Council of Ministers of the EEC in 1976 ; first elections in Europe in June 1979).
• Creation of the European Monetary System, a project that was presented jointly by France and Germany in 1978, and put into operation by decision of the European Council in Paris in 1979.
• Creation of the world summits of chiefs of state and heads of government of the principal industrialized democracies. He organized the first summit at Rambouillet (France) en 1975, and participated in the meetings until 1980 at Venice.

1981-

• Member de jure of the Constional Council

ELECTORAL MANDATES

• 1984 to 1989 - He is elected Deputé for the Puy-de-Dôme, re-elected in March 1986 and June 1988, He vacates his seat in November 1989 owing to the law on the plurality of mandates.
• 1986 to 2004 - President of the Regional Council of Auvergne
• 1987 to 1989 - On 7 April 1987, he is elected President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly. Re-elected on 28 June 1988 and 4 April 1989.
• 1989 to 1993 - On 18 June 1989, he is elected Député to the European Parliament, where he is a member of the European People's Party Group (EPP). He vacates his seat in June 1993 owing to the law on the plurality of mandates.
• 1993 to 1997 - On 21 March 1993, he is re-elected Député for the Puy-de-Dôme.
• 1993 to 1997 - On 8 April 1993, he is elected President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly.
• 1999 to 2002 - On 1 June 1997, he is re-elected Député for the Puy-de-Dôme. He did not stand at the 2002 general elections.

OTHER EUROPEAN AND POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

1986 - In 1986, he creates with former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, the Committee for the Monetary Union of Europe (CMUE) of which they are co-chairmen. This Committee includes 17 members from the EU countries (politicians, bankers, business leaders). They publish in July 1988 the "Programm for Action" outcome of its works from 1986 to Junes 1988, the propositions of which were the basis of the Delors'Committee's works from July 1988 to April 1989.

• 1989 to 1997 - President of the International European Movement.
• 1992 to 1998 - President of the APCR (Associa­tion des Présidents de Conseils Régionaux).
• 1997 to 2004 - President of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, (CEMR - European Section of IULA)
• 2001 - On 15 december 2001, he is appointed, by the European Council of Laeken, President of the European Convention (Convention on the Future of Europe).

Since 1995, he is a member of the Real Academia de Ciencias Economicas y Financieras (Spain).

November 2001 - Médaille d'Or Jean Monnet for Europe.

December 2002 - Prix Charlemagne awarded by the city of Aachen

11 December 2003 - he is elected a Member of the Académie Française

24 January 2006 – he receives, jointly with Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, the Prix De Gaulle-Adenauer

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing married, on 17 December 1952, Anne-Aymone de Brantes. They have four children (Valérie-Anne, Henri, Louis and Jacinte).

BOOKS

• 1976 : FRENCH DEMOCRACY (Démocratie Française)
• 1984 : TWO FRENCH OUT OF THREE (Deux Français sur Trois)
• 1988 : POWER AND LIFE (Le Pouvoir et la Vie "La Rencontre")
• 1991 : POWER AND LIFE - 2d vol. (Le Pouvoir et la Vie "l'Affrontement")
• 1994 : LE PASSAGE
• 1995 : IN FIVE YEARS, YEAR 2000
• 2000 : LES FRANCAIS, Réflexions sur le destin d'un peuple
• 2003 – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing présente la Constitution pour l'Europe
• 2006 - POWER AND LIFE - 3d volume (Le Pouvoir et la Vie «Choisir»)