Marion Maréchal is a French politician belonging to the National Rally (earlier National Front) political party. She is the niece of the party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, and a member of the influential Le Pen family. From 2012 to 2017, she served as a member of France’s National Assembly (lower house of Parliament). After the end of her term, she did not seek re-election and decided to take a break from politics. She immersed herself in the education sector and founded an academic institution named Institut des Sciences Sociales, Economiques et Politiques (ISSEP) in the French city of Lyon. Despite her temporary separation from active politics, Marion’s legacy has meant that she is a looming figure in the French conscience and is widely touted as the National Rally‘s potential candidate for the 2022 Presidential elections.
Born Name
Marion Jeanne Caroline Le Pen
Nick Name
Marion
Marion Maréchal speaking at the 2018 CPAC in National Harbor (Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Born Place
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, Paris, France
Residence
Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, France
Nationality
Education
When she was elected as a member of the National Assembly in 2012, Marion was enrolled in the Panthéon-Assas University for a master’s degree in public business law. She decided to put aside her studies to carry out her duties as a parliamentarian. After taking a break from politics in 2017, she registered for an MBA at the Emlyon Business School.
Occupation
Politician, Academician
Family
Father – Roger Auque (Journalist, Diplomat, Spy) (d. 2014)
Mother – Yann Le Pen
Others – Vladimir Auque (Half-Brother), Carla Auque (Half-Sister), Tanguy Maréchal (Half-Brother), Romain Maréchal (Half-Brother), Samuel Maréchal (Stepfather) (Politician), Jean-Marie Le Pen (Politician, Former Military Paratrooper) (Maternal Grandfather), Pierrette Lalanne (Former Model) (Maternal Grandmother), Marine Le Pen (Maternal Aunt) (Politician, Lawyer), Marie Caroline Le Pen (Maternal Aunt) (Politician), Nolwenn Olivier (Cousin), Pierre Olivier (Cousin)
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 8 in or 173 cm
Weight
54 kg or 119 lbs
Marion Maréchal as seen in September 2012 (Gauthier Bouchet / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0)
Boyfriend / Spouse
Marion has dated –
Matthieu Decosse (2014–2016) – Marion married French businessman Matthieu Decosse on July 29, 2014, at the Saint-Cloud town hall. Their only child, a daughter named Olympe, was born in September 2014. The couple got divorced in 2016.
Race / Ethnicity
White
She is of French, Breton, Swiss, and Maltese descent on her mother’s side, and of French descent on her father’s side.
Hair Color
Blonde
Eye Color
Hazel
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Marion Maréchal as seen in February 2013 (SmartGov / Flickr / CC BY-2.0)
Marion Maréchal during an event in September 2015 (TV Patriotes / Flickr / CC BY-2.0)
Marion Maréchal Facts
Her grandfather Jean-Marie Le Pen had founded the National Front political party in 1972. Marion featured with him in a campaign poster for the party at the age of just 2.
When she was elected to France’s National Assembly in 2012, Marion was just 22 years old. This made her France’s youngest parliamentarian in modern political history.
In November 2013, French journalist Christine Clerc published a book titled Les Conquérantes (The Conquerors) which revealed publicly for the first time that Marion’s biological father was Roger Auque, an investigative journalist, diplomat, and an Israeli spy. The story was further blown up by the weekly L’Express magazine.
Marion sued L’Express magazine in late 2013 for these revelations claiming it to be a ‘serious invasion of her privacy’. She won the lawsuit in April 2015.
Her mother had married a National Front political leader named Samuel Maréchal in 1993 and since then Marion had lived as his daughter.
In 2018, in a symbolic move, she removed the powerful and influential Le Pen family name from her last name.
Featured Image by TV Patriotes / Flickr / CC BY-2.0