Philippe de Villiers

Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (Template:IPA; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist.<ref name=MEP>Your MEPs:Philippe de VILLIERS. European Parliament:Main Website. Retrieved 4 March 2009.</ref> He is the founder of the Puy du Fou theme park in Vendée, which is centred around the history of France. Appointed Secretary of State for Culture in 1986 by President François Mitterrand, de Villiers entered the National Assembly the following year and the European Parliament in 1994.

After leaving the Republican Party (PR) to found the Movement for France (MPF), he was its nominee in the 1995 and 2007 presidential elections.<ref name=ELECTION>2007 French Presidential Elections The Washington Post</ref> He received 4.74% of the vote the first time, placing seventh; he won 2.23% of the vote twelve years later, putting him in sixth place. De Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of mass immigration and Islam in France, as well as his ardent support of the French way of life. His brother, General Pierre de Villiers, served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 2014 to 2017.

Personal life

Le Jolis De Villiers family coat of arms

De Villiers was born in Boulogne in the department of Vendée, Western France,<ref name=MEP/> the second of five children and eldest son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born in Nancy, 14 November 1913) and his wife Edwige d'Arexy (born in Nantes, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville on 17 October 1874, was killed in action in World War I at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt on 10 September 1914. On 24 October 1904, he had married Jeanne de Saintignon (27 July 1880 – 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father, Jacques.

De Villiers received a master's degree in Law in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973 and from the École nationale d'administration in 1978.<ref name=MEP/> After his studies, De Villiers became a successful entrepreneur.<ref name=rebel/> He created the Puy du Fou, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history.<ref name=rebel/> The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a colosseum designed by De Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome.<ref name=rebel/> The Puy du Fou park received awards from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He is a French aristocrat and a descendant of diplomat and historian Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur and Minister and Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of 2007 he is a Member of the European Parliament (Independence/Democracy Group). He is 1.85 meters tall.<ref>Biography for Philippe de Villiers. Imdb.com. Retrieved 5 March 2005.</ref>

He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born in Valenciennes on 4 October 1950 and has seven children.

Career

1995 presidential bid

From 1976 to 1978, De Villiers served as a senior civil servant in the Chirac administration.<ref name=harvey/> In 1981, he resigned his post as subprefect because he did not want to serve the government of the Socialist President François Mitterrand<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>.Template:Citation needed In 1986 and 1987, he briefly served as Secretary of State for Culture (Template:Lang) in the second government of Jacques Chirac, under Minister François Léotard. His appointment was initially viewed badly by Libération and several other press agencies, which referred to his "ambiguous personality". However, Villiers supported Leotard's mixed, non-ideological policy towards French culture.<ref name=fun>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1987, he was elected into local office as a member in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Republican Party.<ref name=harvey/> He became a rising star within the Union for French Democracy.<ref name=clair>Template:Cite book</ref> During the public debate over the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union, in 1992, he achieved lasting prominence in the media as an anti-Treaty activist.<ref name=finn/> This set him apart from most prominent members of the mainstream political right.<ref name=clair/> The French people narrowly ratified the Treaty in September 1992.<ref name=finn>Template:Cite book</ref>

De Villiers led an anti-European integration list in 1994 receiving about 12 percent of the votes, placing it in third place behind the Gaullists and the Socialists.<ref name=harvey/> Villiers centered the campaign on opposition to the European Union along with a call to eliminate corruption in government.<ref name=clair/> In November 1994, Villers left the Republican Party to form Movement for France. He ran for President of France in 1995 and received about 5 percent of the vote.<ref name=harvey/>

2007 presidential bid

Philippe de Villiers, May 2005

Once a member of the Union for French Democracy, he then led the Movement for France, which enjoyed some success in elections for the European Parliament. The party's share of the vote declined in the 2004 European Parliament election. Nevertheless, Villiers and two other members of his party were elected.

De Villiers ran for the French presidency in 2007, and based his campaign on his opposition to what he sees as the rampant Islamisation of France. In May 2006, polls showed that he had garnered the support of about 4% of the electorate, almost twice as high as he actually polled in the first round of the presidential election. An "Ifop-Paris-Match" poll conducted on 12 October 2006 gave him his highest ever popularity rating, with 37% saying they "have an excellent or good opinion" of Villiers, and 28% saying they could vote for him in 2007.Template:Citation needed This was not borne out in the results of the first round of voting, with him receiving less than 3% of the popular vote.

Following the first round of the 2007 presidential election, he called on voters to vote for Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy to counter the Socialist Party's candidate Ségolène Royal and the left.

Villiers and Konstantin Malofeev are planning to build two Russian history related theme parks: one in Moscow and one in Yalta (Crimea); this is in spite of Malofeev being added to the European Union list of people and organizations sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War (Malofeev is suspected of funding the pro-Russian rebels in Donbas during the Russo-Ukrainian War).<ref name="telegraphfrenchpoldefendsplan">Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2014 Villiers travelled to Crimea to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin; while there, he defended the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea by saying the Crimean park will "promote the history of Crimea as part of the long history of Russia".<ref name="telegraphfrenchpoldefendsplan"/> He also stated there "I would gladly swap Hollande and Sarkozy for Putin".<ref name="telegraphfrenchpoldefendsplan"/>

Political positions

Criticism of Islam

De Villiers is known for his criticism of Islam in France. He has stated, "I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamisation of France" and, "I do not think Islam is compatible with the French Republic". He advocates ending all construction of mosques, banning all Islamist organisations suspected of links to terrorism, and expelling extremist individuals from France.<ref>French Presidential Hopeful Decries "Islamization of France". Islam Online. Published 24 April 2006.</ref><ref name=boston>Far-right leader decries "Islamisation of France". By Tom Heneghan. The Boston Globe. Published 23 April 2006.</ref><ref name=wsj>Philippe de Villiers. By David Marcelis. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2009.</ref><ref name=shuts>Paris Shuts Airport Muslim Prayer Rooms. By Elaine Ganley. The San Francisco Chronicle. Published 2 August 2006.</ref>

De Villiers published Les mosquées de Roissy: nouvelles révélations sur l'islamisation en France (The Mosques of Roissy: New Revelations about Islamization in France) in 2006. In it he alleged, using internal documents from whistleblowers, that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated security personnel at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris. The book led to revocation of seventy-two employees' security clearances and closure of six makeshift Muslim prayer rooms.<ref>Template:Cite web.</ref><ref name=der>Paris Airport Bars Muslim Workers. Der Spiegel. Published 2 November 2006.</ref>

Der Spiegel, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, and The San Francisco Chronicle have labelled De Villiers as "far right" because of his views of Islam and of Muslim immigrants.<ref name=boston/><ref name=wsj/><ref name=shuts/><ref name=der/>

Political philosophy

Villiers is a nationalist, a traditionalist, and a leading eurosceptic.<ref name=rebel/><ref name=no>French No campaigners launch new bid to bring back the franc. By Nicola Smith. The Scotsman. Published 17 June 2005.</ref> He has self-described as a "rooted conservative". During his tenure under François Léotard, he said that he shared Léotard's American-based "libertarian liberalism".<ref name=harvey/><ref name=fun/> In 1995, The Economist referred to him as "an ephemeral Catholic monarchist".<ref>The Economist, Business & Economics Section, 1995, Page 21</ref>

He advocates cutting taxes, expelling all illegal immigrants, and preventing Turkey from joining the EU.<ref name=wsj/> He is a vocal critic of the European Union's relationship with France, accusing it of "destroying their jobs, their security and their identity" and saying that "the Europe of Brussels is an anti-democratic dictatorship".<ref name=rebel>France's Eurorebel 'with a cause'. By William Horsley. BBC News. Published 30 March 2004.</ref> He was a leader of the side advocating a 'No' vote in the 2005 French referendum of the European Constitution.<ref name=no/> The 'No' side won the vote, which the activists believed constituted a major victory for Euroscepticism in France.<ref name=no/> Villiers then launched a campaign to restore the franc, remarking that "Everybody notes today that the adoption of the euro was a technical success but its economic, political and human toll is incontestable."<ref name=no/>

Villiers opposes immigration into France in general, but he has advocated that "individual cases be treated with the greatest humanity." He also opposes expelling current immigrants residing in France or subjecting them to discrimination in housing, employment, or other spheres. Despite their differences on these and other issues, the National Front's Jean Marie Le Pen has remarked that Villiers' ideas were "lifted" from him and that their "votes should be added together".<ref name=harvey/>

Villiers coined the phrase "Polish Plumber" in a June 2005 political speech about the Bolkestein directive, referring to the perceived threat of cheap East European labour to French wages.<ref name=hero>Unlikely Hero in Europe's Spat: The 'Polish Plumber'. The New York Times. Published 26 June 2005.</ref> The mythical figure became a central point of debate in France, and it later prompted an international controversy.<ref name=hero/> He has also referred to the "Latvian mason" and the "Estonian gardener."<ref name=hero/>

American author Harvey Gerald Simmons has compared the "Villiers phenomenon" to Ross Perot's support in the 1992 American Presidential election. He stated that De Villiers has a populist, anti-establishment image that puts him on the edges of the mainstream political right of France rather than in the far right.<ref name=harvey>Template:Cite book</ref>

Support base

De Villiers gathers his support from practising Roman Catholics, artisans, retired people, farmers and small business owners.<ref name=harvey/>

Offices held

Governmental function

Secretary of State for Communication: 1986–1987.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament: 1994-1997 (Resignation, reelected in the parliamentary elections in 1997) / July–December 1999 (Resignation) / 2004-2018. Elected in 1994, reelected in 1999, 2004, 2009.

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Vendée: 1987-1994 (Became member of European Parliament in 1994) / 1997-2004 (Became member of European Parliament in 2004). Elected in 1987, reelected in 1988, 1993, 1997, 2002.

General Council

President of the General Council of Vendée: 1988-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2008.

General councillor of Vendée: 1987-2010 (Resignation). Reelected in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2008.

Political function

President of the Movement for France: 1994-1999 / 2000-2018 (party dissolved).

Electoral history

Presidential

President of the French Republic

Election	First round				Second round
	Votes	%	Position	Result	Votes	%	Position	Result
1995	1,443,186	4.74%	(#7)	Lost
2007	818,407	2.23	(#6)	Lost

Works

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• Le Puy du Fou : un rêve d'enfance, Éditions du Rocher, 2017, 308 p. (ISBN 978-2-268-09934-7)
• Le Mystère Clovis, Paris: Éditions Albin Michel, 2018.
• J'ai tiré sur le fil du mensonge et tout est venu, Paris: Fayard, 2019.
• Les Gaulois réfractaires demandent des comptes au Nouveau Monde, Paris: Fayard, 2020.
• Le Jour d'après, Éditions Albin Michel, 2021.
• La Valse de l'adieu, Paris: Plon, 2022.
• Le Roman du Roi Soleil, Paris: Éditions Litos, 2024, 480 p., Poche (ISBN 978-2-38506-105-0).
• Mémoricide, Paris: Fayard, 2024, 384 p. (ISBN 978-2213731087).

External links

• Template:In lang Template:Official website