French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen died Tuesday at the age of 96, leaving behind a contentious party legacy characterized by antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial.
Le Pen was born in the Brittany region of western France and, at a young age, sought to join the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation. Although he initially participated in the resistance movement, he was quickly removed from its ranks due to his young age. Le Pen later pursued legal studies, during which he joined far-right organizations and clashed violently with left-wing activists in the streets of Paris.
Following his studies, Le Pen enlisted in the French Foreign Legion, a military unit primarily composed of foreign recruits seeking to serve under assumed identities. He served in the Legion's intelligence unit and participated in the French intervention in Vietnam. During the war, he was accused of torturing Vietnamese detainees, allegations he denied. Le Pen later served in the Sinai Peninsula during the 1956 Suez Crisis, although he did not participate in combat operations.
In 1972, Le Pen founded the National Front (FN), a political party that became a cornerstone of the French far-right. He drew support from Catholic conservatives as well as monarchist sympathizers. Over the years, his positions became increasingly extreme and overtly antisemitic. In 1982, Le Pen infamously claimed that the gas chambers at Auschwitz were a "minor detail" in the history of World War II and asserted that the Holocaust was exaggerated by the left. He also defended the Vichy regime and Marshal Philippe Pétain, arguing that they protected France both from the Nazis and the communist threat.
Le Pen's daughter, Marine Le Pen, joined the party and became its leader in 2011. In 2015, following a series of antisemitic remarks, Marine announced her father's suspension from the National Front, signaling a break with his extremist legacy.
