Born in the northern city of Amiens, Mr Macron was educated at the prestigious Henri-IV public secondary school in Paris. It is regarded as one of the most demanding sixth-form colleges in France.
His parents were both doctors and well-to-do. He studied philosophy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre, and got postgraduate degrees at Paris's prestigious Sciences Po and the elite ENA college.
ENA is traditionally the incubator for France's top civil servants.
He joined Rothschild & Cie in 2008, where he worked as an investment banker. After four years as an investment banker with Rothschild & Cie, where he became an associate partner, Mr Macron had his first taste of government under Socialist President François Hollande.
He first met François Hollande in 2006 and although he was courted by the centre-right, he felt more at home with the Socialists. He has never been elected an MP.
He raised eyebrows in 2007 when he married his former drama teacher Brigitte Trogneux, 20 years his senior.
She was quoted by Paris Match magazine as saying: "At the age of 17, Emmanuel said to me, 'Whatever you do, I will marry you!'"
She is reckoned to have had some influence over his politics: highlights education as the top priority.
His En Marche movement now counts more than 200,000 followers and he has developed a platform that mixes public investment with business-friendly policies.
At the heart of his ideas are plans to end France's 35-hour week for younger workers. "When you're young, 35 hours isn't enough. You want to work more and learn your job," he told Le Nouvel Observateur.
As for workers in their 50s, he argues they should have the choice of a shorter working week.
There are radical plans for a cut in some primary school class sizes and a "culture-pass" for every 18-year-old.
He is a polished performer on stage and has attracted a loyal following.
When he raised his arms to the heavens and cried "Vive la France!" at a rally in December, his fervent style was widely ridiculed. But it only served to get his message across.
He has had the occasional wobble. A claim that France's colonization of Algeria had been a "crime against humanity" led to an outcry and a brief setback in the polls.
But an early boost to his campaign came from veteran liberal François Bayrou, an ex-presidential candidate who threw his weight behind him.
He has shown a deft touch in handling slurs on his private life. Rejecting lurid claims of a gay affair, he told supporters that his wife Brigitte "shares my whole life from morning till night and she wonders how I could physically do it!"
No comments:
Post a Comment