Death of Georges Pompidou

Georges Pompidou died on 2 April 1974 in 4th arrondissement of Paris, aged 62. A French statesman and former teacher and banker, Pompidou became a close aide of Charles de Gaulle and served as prime minister from 1962 to 1968, helping to manage the crisis of May 1968. He was elected president of the Republic in 1969, after de Gaulle resigned. His presidency continued Gaullist foreign policy while stressing industrial modernization, motorways and high-speed rail projects, and he agreed to Britain's entry into the European Community. A lover of contemporary art, he initiated the Paris cultural centre that now carries his name. He died in office in 1974 after a long and largely concealed illness.

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