Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far-right National Front party died at the age of 96
He served as the president of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He contested five presidential elections during the time and his attempts made him a major figure in French political life.
He focused on issues related to immigration, France’s high rate of unemployment, the European Union and so on
Le Pen's unexpected progress to the second round in the 2002 presidential election, where he lost to conservative Jacques Chirac, stunned the world
Le Pen was however a controversial figure. Accusations of racism dogged the National Front from the moment he co-founded the party in 1972
He was convicted and fined in 1996 for contesting war crimes after declaring that the Nazi gas chambers were "merely a detail" of World War II history
Last year he faced charges along with his daughter Marine Le Pen over allegations the party embezzled money from the European parliament with fake jobs
Though they were family, all was not well between the father and daughter when it came to politics. It's said that Marine Le Pen was not quite fond of his style of running the party. She 'expelled' her father from the party in August 2015 after he made fresh controversial statements. | AP, AFP, Reuters