Raymond Barre

The Aries sign of the Western Zodiac

Raymond Barre: born April 12, 1924 French politician. He studied at the Institut D'Études Politiques, taught, and then, in 1959, became an economic adviser to the government of Charles de Gaulle. In 1976, he became minister of foreign trade and then succeeded Jacques Chirac as premier, serving from 1976 to 1981. Although he was a right-wing politician who pursued an austere economic program, Barre was a popular leader. He was elected to the national assembly in 1978 as a member of the Union for French Democracy (UDF). In 1988 Barre placed third in the presidential election, behind François Mitterrand and Chirac. He was elected mayor of Lyons, France in 1995.