Former French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand, who was a high-profile and sometimes controversial figure on France’s cultural scene, died on Thursday at the age of 76, his family announced.
Born in Paris in 1947 to a well-to-do family, Mitterrand was the nephew of President Fraņçois Mitterrand. His many activities across half a century included teacher, arthouse cinema owner, cinema and culture commentator, TV presenter, producer and documentary-maker.
He first gained notoriety on France’s cultural scene as the owner of the bohemian arthouse cinema L’Olympic in Paris’ then down-at-heel 14th arrondissement.
After a brief time as a geography and history teacher, he acquired the theater in 1971 at the age of 22 with the help of a loan from the father of one of his former pupils.
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