French former university professor and politician (Born 1950)
Olivier Duhamel
President of the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques
In office 10 May 2016 – 4 January 2021
Preceded by
Jean-Claude Casanova
Succeeded by
Laurence Bertrand Dorléac
Member of the European Parliament
In office 1997–2004
Preceded by
Pierre Moscovici
Personal details
Born
(1950-05-02) 2 May 1950 (age 74) Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Spouse
Évelyne Pisier
Alma mater
Paris Nanterre University
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]
Biography
[edit]
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
[edit]
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
[edit]
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).