Jacques Peyrat

Jacques Peyrat (born 18 October 1931 in Belfort) is a French politician and lawyer who was mayor of Nice from 1995 to 2008 and has been senator from the Alpes-Maritimes from 1998 to 2008. Jacques Peyrat came from a military family that settled in Nice in 1946 where he studied law and letters. In 1947 at the age of 16 he joined the Rally of the French People (Rassemblement du Peuple Français, RPF), the political party that General Charles de Gaulle created that year. In 1953 Peyrat enlisted in the 1st Foreign Parachute Battalion of the French Foreign Legion. It was in French Indochina that he met and became friends with the French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. Upon his return to civilian life, Peyrat united his social and professional interests. His presidency of parachute and aeronautical groups won him a silver medal for youth and sports.