Germaine Coty
Germaine Coty | |
|---|---|
Coty in 1954 | |
| Spouse of the President of France | |
| In office 16 January 1954 – 12 November 1955 | |
| President | René Coty |
| Preceded by | Michelle Auriol |
| Succeeded by | Yvonne de Gaulle (1959) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Germaine Alice Corblet 9 April 1887 Le Havre, Seine-Inférieure, France |
| Died | 12 November 1955 (aged 68) Château de Rambouillet, Seine-et-Oise, France |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Germaine Alice Coty (French pronunciation: [ʒɛʁmɛn kɔti]; née Corblet; 9 April 1887 – 12 November 1955) was the daughter of a Normandy ship owner who became the wife of the French lawyer-politician René Coty. When she died, slightly less than 22 months after her husband became president of France, she became the first wife of a French president to die while her husband was still in office. By that time she had become popular with the French public "for her simplicity and kindness: hostile commentators who had mocked her when she moved into the presidential "Élysée Palace" quickly ceased their mockery in response to vehement public protests".