Laurent Fabius

Laurent Fabius is France's Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, an office he has held since 2012. A member of the Socialist Party, he is a former Prime Minister of France, having served from 1984 to 1986. Born in Paris in 1946, he graduated from the École normale supérieure and the National School of Administration, serving as an auditor for the Council of State shortly thereafter. In 1978 he was elected to the National Assembly for the fourth constituency of Seine-Maritime. Under President François Mitterrand he served as Minister of the Budget from 1981 to 1983, and as Minister of Industry and Research from 1983 to 1984. From 1984 to 1986, he served as Prime Minister. Later, from 1988 to 1992, and again from 1997 to 2000, he was President of the National Assembly. In 2000 President Lionel Jospin appointed him Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industry, an office he held until 2002. In 2012 he became Minister of Foreign Affairs under President François Hollande. He is the author of six books and is an expert on economic and financial issues, European affairs, and international relations, as well as painting and sculpture. His latest book is Le Cabinet des douze: Regards sur des tableaux qui font la France (Gallimard 2010), which won the Prix Montaigne de Bordeaux in 2011.