Born on 29 November 1932 in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. Son of François Chirac, a company director, and Marie-Louise, née Valette. Married on 16 March 1956 to Mlle Bernadette Chodron de Courcel. (Two children: Laurence and Claude

Education
Lycée Carnot and Lycée Louis-le-Grand,Paris

Qualifications
Graduate of the Paris Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Institute of Political Science), and of the Harvard University Summer School (USA).

Decorations
Grand-Croix de la Légion d'Honneur
Grand-Croix de l'Ordre National du
Mérite
Croix de la Valeur Militaire
Médaille de l'Aéronautique (aerospace industry)
Chevalier du Mérite Agricole, des Arts et des Lettres, de l'Étoile Noire, du Mérite Sportif, du Mérite Touristique
Grand-Croix du Mérite de l'Ordre souverain de Malte (Grand Cross of the Merit of the Sovereign Order of Malta)

Career

1957-1959
Ecole nationale d'Administration (competitive-entrance college which trains top civil servants)

1959
Auditeur (Junior member) of the cour des comptes (Audit Court)

1962
Chargé de mission at the Government Secretariat-General
Chargé de mission in the private office of Georges Pompidou, Prime Minister

1965-1993
Conseiller référendaire (middle-ranking member) of the Cour des comptes

March 1965 to March 1977
Member of the Sainte-Féréole (Corrèze) municipal council

March - May 1967
National Assembly Deputy fot he Corrèze départment

1967-1968
State Secretary for Social Affairs, with responsibility for Employment (government of G. Pompidou)

1968
Member of the Corrèze General Council for the canton of Meymac, re-elected in 1970, 1976, 1982)

1968-1971
State Secretary for the Economy and Finance (governments of Georges Pompidou, Maurice Couve de Murville and Jacques Chaban-Delmas )

June 1968 - August1968
UDR (Union pour la Défense de la République)National Assembly Deputy for the Corrèze département

Since l969
Treasurer of the Fondation Claude Pompidou (a voluntary organization providing assistance particularly for the elderly and handicapped children)

From 1970 to March 1979
Chairman of the Corrèze General Council

1971-1972
Minister attached ti the Prime Minister, with responsibility for relations with Parliament (government of Jacques Chaban-Delmas)

1972-1973
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (government of Pierre Messmer )

March 4, 1973 to May 5, 1973
Re-elected National Assembly Deputy for the Corrèze département

1973-1974 
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (government of Pierre Messmer)

1974
Minister of the Interior (government of Messmer)

27 May, 1974
Prime Minister

December 1974 - June 1975
Union des Démocrates pour la République (UDR) General Secretary

June 1975
UDR, Honorary General Secretary,

25 August 1976
Tendered his government resignation.

1976
Re-elected National Assembly Deputy for Corrèze département , 3rd constituency

5 December, 1976
Elected Chairman of the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR).

20 March 1977
Elected Mayor of Paris

1 May 1979
Elected Chairman of the Association internationale des Maires et Responsables des Capitales et Métropoles partiellement ou entièrement francophones (AIMF) (international association of mayors and those in charge of partially or entirely French-speaking capitals and cities)

June 10, 1979
Elected to the European Parliament (Défense des Intérêts de la France en Europe [defending France’s interests in Europe] list). He resigned his seat in 1980.S

20 March 1986 to 10 May 1988
Prime minister (Cohabitation)

7 May 1995
Elected President of the French Republic

17 May 1995
Inauguration as President of the Republic

5 May 2002
Re-elected President of the French Republic

16 May 2002
Inauguration as President of the Republic

Published works
Thesis at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques: le Développement du Port de la Nouvelle- Orléans (development of the Port of New Orleans) (1954)
Discours pour la France à l'Heure du Choix, Editions Stock (1978)
La lueur de l'espérance: réflexion du soir pour le matin, Editions La Table Ronde (1978)
Une nouvelle France, Réflexions 1, Nil Editions (1994)
La France pour tous, Nil Editions (1995)

Biography sourcet : Press Office of the French Republic - 55, rue du Fbg St Honoré, F - 75008 Paris