Jack Lang (French politician)

Infobox AM
name=Jack Lang

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assembly=French National
constituency_AM=Pas-de-Calais (6th constituency)
term_start=19 June 2002
predecessor=Dominique Dupilet
office2=Education Minister of France
term_start2=27 March 2000
term_end2=5 May 2002
predecessor2=Claude Allègre
successor2=Luc Ferry
term_start3=3 April 1992
term_end3=29 March 1993
predecessor3=Lionel Jospin
successor3=François Bayrou
office4=Culture Minister of France
term_start4=13 May 1988
term_end4=2 April 1992
predecessor4=François Léotard
successor4=Jacques Toubon
term_start5=22 May 1981
term_end5=19 March 1986
predecessor6=Michel d'Ornano
successor6=François Léotard
assembly7=French National
constituency_AM7=Loir-et-Cher
term_start7=16 March 1986
term_end7=28 July 1988
term_start8=1 June 1997
term_end8=27 April 2000
order9=Mayor of Blois
term_start9=20 March 1989
term_end9=2000
predecessor9=Pierre Sudreau
successor9=Bernard Valette
birth_date=birth date and age|df=yes|1939|9|2
birth_place=Mirecourt, Vosges, France
nationality=French
party=Socialist

Jack Mathieu Émile Lang (born 2 September 1939 [http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/tribun/fiches_id/1821.asp CV at National Assembly website] fr icon.] ) is a French politician and a member of the French Socialist Party. He currently serves in the National Assembly from the sixth district of Pas-de-Calais.

Biography

Lang was born to Roger Lang and Marie-Luce Bouchet in Mirecourt, in the département of Vosges. He studied political science at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and went on to receive a postgraduate degree in public law. His career then focused on a combination of teaching and culture and the arts. He was the founder and producer of Festival du Monde in Nancy, France, was director of the Nancy University Theatre from 1963 to 1972 and then director of the "Palais de Chaillot Théâtre" from 1972 to 1974. At the same time he was a professor of international law from 1971 to 1981. He married Monique Buczynski in 1961 and they have two daughters.

Politics

Lang entered politics as a Socialist member of French National Assembly from Paris in 1977. He is best known for having served as Minister of Culture (22 May 1981-19 March 1986 and 13 May 1988-29 March 1993) and as Minister of Education (3 April 1992 to 29 March 1993 and 27 March 2000 to 5 May 2002).

In 1981, while Minister of Culture, he created the Fête de la Musique, a massive celebration of music held on 21 June each year, where many amateur musicians give free open-air performances. He is the co-founder and president of the Union of the Theatres of Europe.

In August 1981, he created the Lang Law, which fixes the price of books.

Lang was a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 to 1997. In 2000 he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Paris. While he had planned to run for president in 2007 he decided not to register as a candidate for the Socialist nomination in the name of party unity.

In 2007, Lang agreed to become co-chairman of a commission drafting changes to the Constitution that were supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy and opposed by the Socialist Party. This decision provoked strong criticism from his party, leading him to end his role in the party leadership. When Parliament voted on the constitutional changes on 21 July 2008, he voted in favor, becoming the only Socialist deputy to do so. A three-fifths majority was required, and the changes passed by a vote of 539 to 357, meaning that Lang's support enabled the bill to pass by a one-vote margin. The Socialist Party denounced Lang for this vote; party spokesman Julien Dray said that he had "gone too far" and "no longer has his place in our political family", while Jean-Marc Ayrault, the President of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, said that Lang's vote was an act of "crossing the Rubicon". Lang replied by saying that it "is in nobody's power to strike me from the map of the French political landscape". [Henry Samuel, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2445214/Leading-French-Socialist-dumped-for-supporting-Nicolas-Sarkozy-reforms.html "Leading French Socialist dumped for supporting Nicolas Sarkozy reforms"] , Telegraph.co.uk, July 21, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://www.blogjacklang.net/ Jack Lang] - Blog

succession box|title=Minister of Culture| before=François Léotard|after=Jacques Toubon|years=1988-1993succession box|title=Minister of Education| before=Lionel Jospin|after=François Bayrou|years=1992-1993###@@@KEYEND@@@###succession box|title=Minister of Education| before=Claude Allègre|after=Luc Ferry|years=1997-2000###@@@KEYEND@@@###