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Article: BUILDING A LEGACY; Mitterrand Strove to Leave A Monumental Mark on France. Critics Called His Zeal An "Edifice Complex."
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- June 8, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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During Francois Mitterrand's 14 years as president of France, the
landscape of Paris changed in more profound ways than at any time
since the reign of Emperor Napoleon III, whose urban planner Baron
Georges-Eugene Haussmann designed the boulevards, parks and markets
that still infuse the City of Light with so much of its character.
Visitors to Mitterrand's baroque office in the Elysee Palace often
would find him fussing over scale models of grandiose architectural
projects, so much so that German Chancellor Helmut Kohl complained it
was hard to keep him concentrated on affairs of state. After
Mitterrand was stricken with prostate cancer in 1992, he appeared at
times to become obsessed, like ...