Jean-Bernard Raimond

Jean-Bernard Raimond (born February 6, 1926 in Paris) is a conservative French politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of Jacques Chirac from 1986 to 1988, as French ambassador to a number of states from the 1970s to the 1990s, and as a deputy in the French National Assembly from 1993 to 2002.

Educated at the elite "Ecole Normale Superieure" (graduated 1947) and the "Ecole Nationale d'Administration", Raimond served in a variety of civil service positions with the French government, in 1967 he became a member of the staff of Maurice Couve de Murville, at the time the French Foreign Minister, and later to Louis de Guiringaud in 1978. He was ambassador to Morocco from 1973 to 1977, to Poland (1982-1984), to the Soviet Union (1985-1986) and to the Vatican (1988-1991). In between terms as ambassador, he served in various posts in the French Foreign Ministry, including his term as Foreign Minister from 1986 to 1988.

In 1993, he was elected to the French National Assembly as deputy for Bouches-du-Rhone (Aix-en-Provence) as a member of the conservative party "Rassemblement pour la République", and was reelected in 1997 for a term ending in 2002.

He is very active in Franco-Moroccan relations and is a member of a number of bilateral friendship committees, participates in non-governmental international colloquia, and has written several books. Raimond is also the recipient of a number of French and foreign honours, including Officer of the "Légion d'Honneur", Commander of the "Ordre national du Mérite", "Chevalier des Palmes Académiques", "Grand-cordon du Ouissam-Alaouite" (Morocco), and the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Vatican).

Bibliography

*"Le Quai d'Orsay à l'épreuve de la cohabitation" (Flammarion, 1989) - ISBN 2-08-066426-3
*"Le Choix de Gorbatchev" (Odile-Jacob, 1992) - ISBN 2-7381-0189-5
*"Jean Paul II, un pape au cœur de l’histoire" (Le Cherche-Midi, 1999) - ISBN 2-86274-999-0