Olivier_Duhamel

Olivier Duhamel

Olivier Duhamel

French professor and politician

Olivier Duhamel (born 2 May 1950) is a French former university professor and politician.[1] As a member of the social-democratic Socialist Party, he was elected as a member of the European Parliament from 1997 to 2004.[1][2] In 2021 he resigned from the FNSP and his academic position after being accused of the sexual abuse of a minor. In mid-April 2021, French media, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that Duhamel had admitted to sexually abusing his stepson.[3]

Quick Facts President of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, Preceded by ...

Biography

Olivier Duhamel was born on 2 May 1950 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France,[2] the son of politician Jacques Duhamel.[4]

He has taught at the University of Franche-Comté, Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, and the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.[1] He was also a visiting professor at the University of Washington and New York University.[1] He is a faculty member of Sciences Po, though he stopped teaching in 2010.[1][5][6][7]

He was an advisor to the Constitutional Council from 1983 to 1995, and to Georges Vedel in 1993 and Édouard Balladur in 2007.[1][7] He served as MEP from 1997 to 2004.[1][2]

He writes in the popular press for La Marseillaise and Valeurs Actuelles.[1] He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of another publication, POUVOIRS.[1][6][7][8] He is an editor for the European Constitutional Law Review.[1] He also appears on France Culture, LCI, and Europe 1.[1][6][7]

He is the Vice-President of Le Siècle.[9] He is also a member of the Club des Juristes, a legal think tank in France.[7]

Accusation of incest and child abuse

Main article: Duhamel scandal
See also: Sciences Po § Duhamel scandal

In January 2021, he was accused by his stepdaughter Camille Kouchner in a book titled La Familia Grande of sexually abusing her twin brother, Duhamel's stepson, when he was 13 in 1988: this offence is outside the statute of limitation for criminal charges.[4][10] He subsequently resigned from the FNSP, his academic, and media posts.[4][11] Saying “Being the subject of personal attacks, and eager to protect the institutions I work for, I resign from [all of my positions]."[12] The allegations against him are said to have sparked an online movement of people speaking out about family abuse,[13][14][15] and to have led to new laws toughening sexual assault laws against minors.[16] On 5 January 2021, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into the allegations.[12] In mid-April 2021, French media, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that Duhamel had admitted to sexually abusing his stepson.[3][17]

Bibliography

  • Chili ou la Tentative, Révolution/Légalité (Gallimard,1974)
  • La Gauche et la Cinquième République (PUF, 1980)
  • Dictionnaire des œuvres politiques (co-edited with François Châtelet and Évelyne Pisier, PUF, 1986)
  • Dictionnaire constitutionnel (co-edited with Yves Mény, PUF, 1991)
  • Las Democracias (co-edited with Manuel Cepeda, TM editors, Bogota)
  • Démocratie, démocraties (co-edited with Robert Darnton, Éditions du Rocher, 1999)
  • Le quinquennat (Presses de Sciences Po, 2000, 2008)
  • Vive la VIe République (Seuil, 2002)
  • Pour l'Europe - Le texte intégral de la Constitution expliqué et commenté (Seuil,2003)
  • Histoire des présidentielles (Seuil, 2007)
  • Le starkozysme (co-written with Michel Field, Seuil, 2008)
  • Droit constitutionnel et institutions politiques (Seuil, 2009)
  • Histoire de la Ve République (1958–2009) (co-written with Guy Carcassonne and Jean-Jacques Chevallier, Dalloz, 2009).

References

  1. [1]
    Sciences Po webpage
  2. [2]
    European Parliament webpage
  3. [3]
    "French intellectual Olivier Duhamel confesses to sexually abusing stepson". France 24. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  4. [4]
    "High-profile French political scientist accused of sexually abusing stepson". The Guardian. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. [5]
    Camille Stromboni, 'Sciences po Paris : le dernier cours d'Olivier Duhamel', in L'Etudiant, 3 December 2010
  6. [6]
    France Culture webpage
  7. [7]
    Club des Juristes webpage
  8. [8]
    POUVOIRS website
  9. [9]
    AFP, '"Le Siècle": Nicole Notat présidente', in Le Figaro, 12 November 2010
  10. [10]
    "Olivier Duhamel, l'inceste et les enfants du silence". Le Monde.fr (in French). 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  11. [11]
    "Compte Twitter personnel (@o_duhamel), le 4 janv. 2021 à 16h26, "Étant l'objet d'attaques personnelles, et désireux de préserver les institutions dans lesquelles je travaille, j'y mets fin à mes fonctions."". Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Incest allegations against top political scientist rattle Paris establishment". POLITICO. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  13. [13]
    "Olivier Duhamel: French incest allegations prompt victims to speak out". BBC News. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  14. [14]
    "French victims of child abuse speak out in new #MeToo wave". ABC News. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Incest allegation triggers French national reckoning". The Week UK. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  16. [16]
    Jabkhiro, Juliette (21 January 2021). "France passes new sex assault law to protect minors after Olivier Duhamel scandal". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  17. [17]
    "Olivier Duhamel: French political scientist faces inquiry over sex abuse claims". BBC News. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
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