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Danielle Mitterrand

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First Lady

The Resume

    (October 29, 1924-November 22, 2011)
    Born in Verdun, France
    Birth name was Danielle Emilienne Isabelle Gouze
    Wife of French President Francois Mitterrand
    Founded the human rights group France Libertes (1986)

Why she might be annoying:

    She frequently skipped official functions.
    As First Lady, she spoke out about human rights issues in countries the French were trying to maintain or establish relations with, creating headaches at the Foreign Office.
    She said in an understatement, 'I often found myself at odds with the diplomats.'
    Despite her human rights advocacy, she embraced Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on the steps of the presidential palace.

Why she might not be annoying:

    At seventeen, she joined the French Resistance as a nurse.
    Her and Francois's oldest son Pascal died in infancy.
    She said her husband's infidelity was 'neither a discovery nor a drama.'
    She invited her husband's long-term mistress and their daughter to his funeral and comforted the daughter when she started crying.
    Asked why she did not stick to tradition as First Lady, she replied, 'There is no traditional role. Each woman acts according to her own conscience.'
    Saddam Hussein tried to have her killed with a car bomb in retaliation for her outspoken support of Iraq's Kurdish minority (July 6, 1992).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 85 Votes: 67.06% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 55 Votes: 49.09% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 100 Votes: 62.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 79 Votes: 46.84% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 145 Votes: 64.83% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 30.77% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 53 Votes: 43.40% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 77 Votes: 74.03% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 120 Votes: 78.33% Annoying