French far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has died at the age of 96, according to a family statement shared with AFP.
Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died at noon on Tuesday "surrounded by his loved ones", the family said, writes A2 CNN.
Le Pen - a Holocaust denier and an unrepentant extremist on race, gender and immigration - founded the French far-right National Front party in 1972.
He reached the presidential run-off against Jacques Chirac in 2002.
Le Pen's daughter Marine took over as party leader in 2011. She has since rebranded the party as Rally National, turning it into one of France's major political forces.
Jordan Bardella, who succeeded Marine Le Pen as party leader in 2022, said Jean-Marie "has always served France" and "defended his identity and his decisions".
Far-right nationalist Eric Zemmour said on 'X' that "beyond the controversies and scandals" Le Pen will be remembered as "among the first to warn France of the existential threats lurking".
Respecting the dignity of the dead and the grief of their families "does not negate the right to judge their actions. Those of Jean-Marie Le Pen are intolerable," said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left France Unbowed ( LFI). "The war against man is over. The war against the hatred, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism he spread continues."
For several decades, Le Pen was France's most controversial political figure. His critics denounced him as a far-right fanatic and the courts convicted him several times for his radical comments.
In 2015, he was kicked out of the National Rally after repeating a notorious Holocaust denial, writes A2 CNN.
The sacking also came amid a public spat with his daughter, who accused him of repeating Holocaust denial in an attempt to "save himself from obscurity". (A2 Televizion)
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