For years, the far-right National Rally tried to distance itself from Mr. Le Pen’s racist and antisemitic remarks. But after his death Tuesday, it hailed him as a visionary.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, a domineering and polarizing figure in French politics and founder of the National Rally party, died at age 96. National Rally President Jordan Bardella announced his death on Tuesday in a post on X.

JEAN-Marie Le Pen, the nationalist founder of the French far-right National Front party, has died aged 96. Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died at midday Tuesday

PARIS (AP) — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front who was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation, has died. He was 96.

Once called the 'most hated man in France', Le Pen maintained that his ideas were simply 'ahead of their time'

The church Notre-Dame du Val de Grace, in Paris, has been the scene of the tribute with a religious ceremony to the founder of the French National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last Tuesday at the age of 96.