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Mitterrand's image has lost no luster, not even in death

Mitterrand In this story:

January 11, 1997
Web posted at: 12:10 a.m. EST (0510 GMT)

From Correspondent Jim Bitterman

PARIS (CNN) -- Francois Mitterrand has been dead for a year, but at the United Nation's Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization, dozens of past and present world leaders flew to Paris for a two-day discussion of his international policy.

"He was very French, but he was president for 14 years and a major player in Europe," explains former British Prime Minister David Owen.

stamp

In fact, the French seem thoroughly caught up in Mitterrand memories, whether it be with an article in a women's magazine which investigates the late president's taste in women other than his wife, or the commemorative stamps that are selling briskly at post offices.

Nostalgia for Mitterrand is running high.

Mitterrand always said he was confident in the way history would judge his era, but a year after his death it is clearer than ever how much trouble he took to make sure history got it right.

Even scandals cannot tarnish Mitterrand legacy

The books he wrote, or collaborated on, established his version of the facts. The monuments he constructed with what opponents called the lavishness of the pharaohs, established in steel and glass the Mitterrand epoch.

He laid out the framework for the Mitterrand Institute, headquartered and staffed at public expense, to look after his personal papers, 10,000 boxes of them, under the careful control of his former archivist.

"Some people might look for the sensational, and the institute is not here to feed scandals," says Dominique Bertinotti of the institute.

pallbearers

Knowing there were scandals to feed, Mitterrand made no secret, in the last months before his death, that he had a mistress for 20 years and had fathered a daughter by her. Indeed, his second family even attended his funeral.

Even more difficult to explain was Mitterrand's controversial participation in the pro-Nazi Vichy government during World War II. To get his version of the story out while he was still alive, the president recorded an interview for national television.

Family suppressed book about his cancer

There is also the matter of his cancer.

Mitterrand came to power in 1981, promising openness about his health, but suppressed any mention of the cancer he struggled with through much of his term in office.

When his personal doctor wrote a book detailing the president's struggle with cancer, Mitterrand's family sued -- successfully -- to keep it out of the bookstores and off the Internet.

Not only have his family and friends united to preserve his image, they also control many of the media rights to his visual archives.

Some here, like writer Paul Webster, are fascinated by the way the French president tried to control the way history would treat him, but they are doubtful that he will get away with it.

Webster is author of "Mitterrand l'Autre Histoire" ("Mitterrand's Other Story").

"Over the next 20 years or so," he says, "when we can take a certain distance from Mitterrand's career, the image that will emerge will be not be that which Mitterrand hoped to protect."

French still regard him warmly

Still, whether it was personally overseeing each picture that went into his political advertising, or directing the leader of Germany to the best spot for a photo opportunity, Mitterrand did such a thorough job of controlling his image when he was alive that historians may find it difficult to sort out fact from spin control.

For many in France, it may not make much difference. A recent poll indicates that two out of three French have positive memories of Mitterrand. Even those who disagreed with his policies do not deny his great appeal to the French.

Pierre-Brossolette

"They are a Latin people," says Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette, author of "Paroles de Presidents" ("Sayings of Presidents"). "People who speak well, who are great actors, even if they are thieves or liars or destroyed employment, they say 'he was a great artist,' and Mitterrand did everything to prove he was a good artist."

As the commemorative roses pile up outside the door of the apartment where Mitterrand died, and the true believers express their emotions for the cameras, it seems clear that, for at least the first year, Francois Mitterrand has successfully managed his image beyond the grave.

 
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