Charles Pasqua

Charles Victor Pasqua (18 April 192729 June 2015) was a French businessman and Gaullist politician. He was Interior Minister from 1986 to 1988, under Jacques Chirac's cohabitation government, and also from 1993 to 1995, under the government of Edouard Balladur.

Early life and family background Pasqua was born on 18 April 1927 in Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes. His paternal grandfather was a shepherd from Casevecchie, Corsica and he could speak Corsican fluently. As of 1987, his cousin served as the mayor of Casevecchie.

During World War II, Pasqua joined the French Resistance at the age of sixteen.

In 1971, he founded Euralim, also known as Europe-Alimentation, an importer of Americano, a cocktail made by the Italian company Gancia.

Politics In 1947, Pasqua helped create the section of the Gaullist Party RPF movement for the Alpes-Maritimes.

From 1968 to 1973, Pasqua was deputy to the French National Assembly for the Hauts-de-Seine département for the UDR party, of which he was a leading member from 1974 to 1976. He and other French defendants were cleared of all charges in 2013 by a Paris court.

In 2008, Pasqua was convicted of illegal lobbying in the Mitterrand–Pasqua affair during his time serving as French Interior Minister. Sentenced in 2009 to serve one year of a three-year jail term, he was acquitted on appeal in 2011.

Personal life and death Pasqua was married to Jeanne Joly, from Quebec, Canada.