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 | Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | 2 May 1950
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]
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]
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]