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{{Short description|Second spouse of ex-french president nicolas sarkozy}}
{{Short description|Second spouse of ex-french president nicolas sarkozy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Cécilia Attias
| name = Cécilia Attias
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| president = [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]
| president = [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]
| predecessor = [[Bernadette Chirac]]
| predecessor = [[Bernadette Chirac]]
| successor = [[Carla Bruni|Carla Bruni-Sarkozy]] {{Small|(2008)}}
| successor = [[Carla Bruni]]-Sarkozy {{Small|(2008)}}
| birth_name = Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz
| birth_name = Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|11|12|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|11|12|df=y}}
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| death_place =
| death_place =
| known_for = Marriage to the French President
| known_for = Marriage to the French President
| spouse ={{marriage|[[Jacques Martin (TV host)|Jacques Martin]]|1984|1989|reason=divorce}}<br/>{{marriage|[[Nicolas Sarkozy]]|1996|2007|reason=divorce}}<br/>{{marriage|[[Richard Attias]]|2008}}
| spouse ={{marriage|[[Jacques Martin (TV host)|Jacques Martin]]|1984|1989|reason=divorce}}<br />{{marriage|[[Nicolas Sarkozy]]|1996|2007|reason=divorce}}<br />{{marriage|[[Richard Attias]]|2008}}
|children=Judith Martin<br>Jeanne-Marie Martin<br>Louis Sarkozy
|children=Judith Martin<br />Jeanne-Marie Martin<br />Louis Sarkozy
|residence = [[Greenwich, Connecticut]]
|residence = [[Greenwich, Connecticut]], US
}}
}}
'''Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias''' (née '''Ciganer-Albéniz''', formerly '''Martin''' and '''Sarkozy'''; born 12 November 1957) was the second spouse of French [[President of the French Republic|President]] [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] until October 2007.
'''Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias''' ({{née}} '''Ciganer-Albéniz''', formerly '''Martin''' and '''Sarkozy'''; born 12 November 1957) was the second spouse of French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] until October 2007.


==Background==
== Background ==
Cecilia Attias was born '''Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz'''. Her father, André (Aron) Ciganer, was a Moldovan immigrant born in [[Bălți]], [[Bessarabia]] in 1898 of [[Russian-Jewish]] lineage.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/24/france.angeliquechrisafis|work=The Guardian |location=London |author=Chrisafis, Angelique|title=The Sarkozys' News|date=24 October 2007|access-date=15 December 2007 }}</ref> He left home at the age of 13, just before the First World War.<ref name="indie">{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2695281.ece |title=Cécilia Sarkozy: The First Lady vanishes |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=24 June 2007 |date=19 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626180959/http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2695281.ece |archive-date=26 June 2007 }}</ref> Ciganer moved to Paris, where he became a [[furrier]].<ref name="telegraph2">{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2005/08/28/wsark28.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111222830/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2005/08/28/wsark28.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2008|title=The photographer, the minister, his wife and her 'lover'|author1=Day, Elizabeth |author2=Samuel, Henry |date=27 August 2005|access-date=19 October 2007 }}</ref> In 1937, he converted to [[Catholicism]] and married [[Spaniards|Spanish]]-[[Belgians|Belgian]] Diane Albéniz de Swert,<ref name="indie" /> a daughter of Alfonso Albéniz Jordana, a Spanish diplomat who played with [[Real Madrid]] in the early 1900s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genealogia.netopia.pt/pessoas/pes_show.php?id=595817|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20080111120715/http://genealogia.netopia.pt/pessoas/pes_show.php?id=595817|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2008|publisher=GeneALL.net|title=Genealogy|access-date=19 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma37492.htm |title=Pre-history and first official title (1900–1910) |access-date=19 October 2007 |publisher=[[Real Madrid C.F.]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071013011406/http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma37492.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a Belgian mother. Her maternal great-grandfather was the Spanish composer [[Isaac Albéniz]].<ref name="Buck, Joan Juliet 2007, page 180">Buck, Joan Juliet, "Political Heartache", ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', December 2007, page 180</ref>
Cecilia Attias was born '''Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz'''. Her father, André (Aron) Ciganer, was a Moldovan immigrant born in [[Bălți]], [[Bessarabia]] in 1898 of [[Russian-Jewish]] lineage.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/24/france.angeliquechrisafis|work=The Guardian |location=London |author=Chrisafis, Angelique|title=The Sarkozys' News|date=24 October 2007|access-date=15 December 2007 }}</ref> He left home at the age of 13, just before the First World War.<ref name="indie">{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2695281.ece |title=Cécilia Sarkozy: The First Lady vanishes |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=24 June 2007 |date=19 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626180959/http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2695281.ece |archive-date=26 June 2007 }}</ref> Ciganer moved to Paris, where he became a [[furrier]].<ref name="telegraph2">{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2005/08/28/wsark28.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111222830/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SNKICWL0BRPGRQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2005/08/28/wsark28.xml|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2008|title=The photographer, the minister, his wife and her 'lover'|author1=Day, Elizabeth |author2=Samuel, Henry |date=27 August 2005|access-date=19 October 2007 }}</ref> In 1937, he converted to [[Catholicism]] and married [[Spaniards|Spanish]]-[[Belgians|Belgian]] Diane Albéniz de Swert,<ref name="indie" /> a daughter of Alfonso Albéniz Jordana, a Spanish diplomat who played with [[Real Madrid]] in the early 1900s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genealogia.netopia.pt/pessoas/pes_show.php?id=595817|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20080111120715/http://genealogia.netopia.pt/pessoas/pes_show.php?id=595817|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 January 2008|publisher=GeneALL.net|title=Genealogy|access-date=19 October 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma37492.htm |title=Pre-history and first official title (1900–1910) |access-date=19 October 2007 |publisher=[[Real Madrid C.F.]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071013011406/http://www.realmadrid.com/articulo/rma37492.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a Belgian mother. Her maternal great-grandfather was the Spanish composer [[Isaac Albéniz]].<ref name="Buck, Joan Juliet 2007, page 180">Buck, Joan Juliet, "Political Heartache", ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'', December 2007, page 180</ref>


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*Ivan Antoine Ciganer-Albéniz
*Ivan Antoine Ciganer-Albéniz


Her mother's half-brothers and half-sisters, as well as their descendants, belong to a family of [[Antwerp]] nobility: the [[Le Grelle family|Le Grelle]] family. Her maternal grandmother, Rosalie de Sweert (1901-1982), married Count Adelin Le Grelle in 1921 in [[Valencia]], [[Spain]]. From this union two children were born, Count Richard Le Grelle (1921) and Countess Marie-Antoinette, who had four children with the Canadian ambassador [[Keith MacLellan]].<ref>Article of Marie-Cécile Royen in the Vif/L'Express, edition of 31 August 2007.</ref>
Her mother's half-brothers and half-sisters, as well as their descendants, belong to a family of [[Antwerp]] nobility: the [[Le Grelle family|Le Grelle]] family. Her maternal grandmother, Rosalie de Sweert (1901–1982), married Count Adelin Le Grelle in 1921 in [[Valencia]], [[Spain]]. From this union two children were born, Count Richard Le Grelle (1921) and Countess Marie-Antoinette, who had four children with the Canadian ambassador [[Keith MacLellan]].<ref>Article of Marie-Cécile Royen in the Vif/L'Express, edition of 31 August 2007.</ref>


Born with a heart defect, she suffered from cardiac problems which hampered her growth. She underwent open [[cardiac surgery]] when she was 13, and she made up quickly for her growth delay. She stands 1.78 m (5' 10") tall.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
Born with a heart defect, she suffered from cardiac problems which hampered her growth. She underwent open [[cardiac surgery]] when she was 13, and she made up quickly for her growth delay. She stands 1.78 m (5' 10") tall.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
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She studied piano (first prize in piano at [[Conservatoire de Paris|Conservatoire]]), and obtained a baccalauréat B, after studying for 13 years in a French religious institution, Sœurs de Lübeck. She enrolled at [[Panthéon-Assas University]] for law studies but abandoned them and went on to become a parliamentary assistant to [[René Touzet (French politician)|René Touzet]].<ref name="bbcnews1">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6656717.stm|title=Sarkozy soap opera grips Paris|date=15 May 2007|author=Wyatt, Caroline|access-date=19 October 2007}}</ref> She also was a fitting model for [[Maison Schiaparelli|Schiaparelli]], the French fashion house, and worked for a public-relations company.<ref name="indie" />
She studied piano (first prize in piano at [[Conservatoire de Paris|Conservatoire]]), and obtained a baccalauréat B, after studying for 13 years in a French religious institution, Sœurs de Lübeck. She enrolled at [[Panthéon-Assas University]] for law studies but abandoned them and went on to become a parliamentary assistant to [[René Touzet (French politician)|René Touzet]].<ref name="bbcnews1">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6656717.stm|title=Sarkozy soap opera grips Paris|date=15 May 2007|author=Wyatt, Caroline|access-date=19 October 2007}}</ref> She also was a fitting model for [[Maison Schiaparelli|Schiaparelli]], the French fashion house, and worked for a public-relations company.<ref name="indie" />


==Political life==
== Political life ==
When her husband was a minister, Cécilia Sarkozy had an office next to his, serving as his close adviser. In 2002, she was appointed to the Office of the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name="ceciliaattiasfoundation.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ceciliaattiasfoundation.org/aboutcecilia |title=Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women |publisher=Ceciliaattiasfoundation.org |access-date=2014-08-20}}</ref> In 2005 she was appointed Chief-of-Staff for the UMP Party.<ref name="ceciliaattiasfoundation.org" />
When her husband was a minister, Cécilia Sarkozy had an office next to his, serving as his close adviser. In 2002, she was appointed to the Office of the Ministry of the Interior.<ref name="ceciliaattiasfoundation.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ceciliaattiasfoundation.org/aboutcecilia |title=Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women |publisher=Ceciliaattiasfoundation.org |access-date=20 August 2014}}</ref> In 2005 she was appointed Chief-of-Staff for the UMP Party.<ref name="ceciliaattiasfoundation.org" />


Cécilia Sarkozy visited [[Libya]] twice in July 2007 to visit [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] and helped in securing the release of [[HIV trial in Libya|five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor]] who had all spent years on [[Libya]]'s death row after allegedly being tortured into confessing to infecting Libyan babies with the HIV virus.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6896305.stm "Sarkozy's wife visits HIV medics"] ''[[BBC]]'', 13 July 2007</ref> The [[French left]] asked for Cécilia Sarkozy to be heard by the Parliamentary Commission expected to be created in October 2007 concerning the terms of the release of the six, as she had played an "important role" in their liberation according to [[Pierre Moscovici]] ([[French Socialist Party|PS]]).<ref name=Liberation_Cecilia>"[http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/272294.FR.php France-Libye: la gauche réclame des explications à Cécilia Sarkozy]", in ''[[Libération]]'' (with AFP), 14 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> The release process is described in the book [[Notes from Hell]] from the perspective of one of the medics, Valya Cherveniashka.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/13796619|title=Notes from Hell|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref>
Cécilia Sarkozy visited [[Libya]] twice in July 2007 to visit [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] and helped in securing the release of [[HIV trial in Libya|five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor]] who had all spent years on [[Libya]]'s death row after allegedly being tortured into confessing to infecting Libyan babies with the HIV virus.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6896305.stm "Sarkozy's wife visits HIV medics"] ''[[BBC]]'', 13 July 2007</ref> The [[French left]] asked for Cécilia Sarkozy to be heard by the Parliamentary Commission expected to be created in October 2007 concerning the terms of the release of the six, as she had played an "important role" in their liberation according to [[Pierre Moscovici]] ([[French Socialist Party|PS]]).<ref name=Liberation_Cecilia>"[http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/272294.FR.php France-Libye: la gauche réclame des explications à Cécilia Sarkozy]", in ''[[Libération]]'' (with AFP), 14 August 2007 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> The release process is described in the book [[Notes from Hell]] from the perspective of one of the medics, Valya Cherveniashka.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goodreads.com/work/best_book/13796619|title=Notes from Hell|website=www.goodreads.com}}</ref>


==Personal life==
== Personal life ==
Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz moved in with the popular French TV host [[Jacques Martin (TV host)|Jacques Martin]] in 1983. They married on 10 August 1984.<ref name="indie" /> The wedding took place in [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]] at the town hall, and [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], then the mayor of Neuilly, conducted the wedding. The Martins had two daughters, Judith Martin (b. 22 August 1984) and Jeanne-Marie Martin (b. 8 June 1987). She has a grandson, Augustin and a granddaughter Diane Elizabeth, born of her daughter Jeanne-Marie.
Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz moved in with the popular French TV host [[Jacques Martin (TV host)|Jacques Martin]] in 1983. They married on 10 August 1984.<ref name="indie" /> The wedding took place in [[Neuilly-sur-Seine]] at the town hall, and [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], then the mayor of Neuilly, conducted the wedding. The Martins had two daughters, Judith Martin (b. 22 August 1984) and Jeanne-Marie Martin (b. 8 June 1987). She has a grandson, Augustin and a granddaughter Diane Elizabeth, born of her daughter Jeanne-Marie.


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She married Attias, Executive Chairman of The Experience, an events management company, on 23 March 2008, at Rockefeller Center in New York.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/24/cecilia.sarkozy.ap/index.html|title=Sarkozy ex-wife weds in New York|publisher=CNN|date=24 March 2008|access-date=24 March 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080328235241/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/24/cecilia.sarkozy.ap/index.html| archive-date = 28 March 2008}}</ref>
She married Attias, Executive Chairman of The Experience, an events management company, on 23 March 2008, at Rockefeller Center in New York.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/24/cecilia.sarkozy.ap/index.html|title=Sarkozy ex-wife weds in New York|publisher=CNN|date=24 March 2008|access-date=24 March 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080328235241/http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/24/cecilia.sarkozy.ap/index.html| archive-date = 28 March 2008}}</ref>


==Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women==
== Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women ==
In October 2008, Cécilia Attias announced the launch of the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, which "helps to actualize concrete improvement in the lives of women around the world by providing a strategic, financial, networking, and media platform for established nongovernmental organizations, social enterprises, and associations that champion the cause of women's equality and well-being."
In October 2008, Cécilia Attias announced the launch of the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, which "helps to actualize concrete improvement in the lives of women around the world by providing a strategic, financial, networking, and media platform for established nongovernmental organizations, social enterprises, and associations that champion the cause of women's equality and well-being."


==References==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090811141918/http://www.californiawomen.org/cecilia-maria-attias/ Cecilia Maria Attias]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090811141918/http://www.californiawomen.org/cecilia-maria-attias/ Cecilia Maria Attias]
*[http://www.ceciliaattiasfoundation.org Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women]
*[http://www.ceciliaattiasfoundation.org/ Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women]


==See also==
== See also ==
* [[HIV trial in Libya]]
* [[HIV trial in Libya]]


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{{s-bef|before=[[Bernadette Chirac]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bernadette Chirac]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of spouses or partners of the president of France|Spouse of the President of France]]|years=2007}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of spouses or partners of the president of France|Spouse of the President of France]]|years=2007}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Carla Bruni|Carla Bruni-Sarkozy]]}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Carla Bruni]]-Sarkozy}}
{{S-end}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Revision as of 11:22, 11 April 2022

Cécilia Attias
Cécilia Attias in 2014
Spouse of the President of France
In role
16 May 2007 – 15 October 2007
PresidentNicolas Sarkozy
Preceded byBernadette Chirac
Succeeded byCarla Bruni-Sarkozy (2008)
Personal details
Born
Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz

(1957-11-12) 12 November 1957 (age 66)
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 1989)​

​
​
(m. 1996; div. 2007)​

​
(m. 2008)​
ChildrenJudith Martin
Jeanne-Marie Martin
Louis Sarkozy
Residence(s)Greenwich, Connecticut, US
Known forMarriage to the French President

Cécilia María Sara Isabel Attias (née Ciganer-Albéniz, formerly Martin and Sarkozy; born 12 November 1957) was the second spouse of French president Nicolas Sarkozy until October 2007.

Background

Cecilia Attias was born Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albéniz. Her father, André (Aron) Ciganer, was a Moldovan immigrant born in Bălți, Bessarabia in 1898 of Russian-Jewish lineage.[1] He left home at the age of 13, just before the First World War.[2] Ciganer moved to Paris, where he became a furrier.[3] In 1937, he converted to Catholicism and married Spanish-Belgian Diane Albéniz de Swert,[2] a daughter of Alfonso Albéniz Jordana, a Spanish diplomat who played with Real Madrid in the early 1900s.[4][5] and a Belgian mother. Her maternal great-grandfather was the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz.[6]

Cécilia Sarkozy Attias has three older brothers:

  • Patrick Ciganer-Albeniz is a program executive officer of the Integrative Financial Management Program of NASA.[7]
  • Christian Ciganer-Albéniz is a consultant for companies such as Framatome, AXA, Lagardère, Crédit Foncier, Accor, and Aurel Conseil.[8]
  • Ivan Antoine Ciganer-Albéniz

Her mother's half-brothers and half-sisters, as well as their descendants, belong to a family of Antwerp nobility: the Le Grelle family. Her maternal grandmother, Rosalie de Sweert (1901–1982), married Count Adelin Le Grelle in 1921 in Valencia, Spain. From this union two children were born, Count Richard Le Grelle (1921) and Countess Marie-Antoinette, who had four children with the Canadian ambassador Keith MacLellan.[9]

Born with a heart defect, she suffered from cardiac problems which hampered her growth. She underwent open cardiac surgery when she was 13, and she made up quickly for her growth delay. She stands 1.78 m (5' 10") tall.[citation needed]

She studied piano (first prize in piano at Conservatoire), and obtained a baccalauréat B, after studying for 13 years in a French religious institution, Sœurs de Lübeck. She enrolled at Panthéon-Assas University for law studies but abandoned them and went on to become a parliamentary assistant to René Touzet.[10] She also was a fitting model for Schiaparelli, the French fashion house, and worked for a public-relations company.[2]

Political life

When her husband was a minister, Cécilia Sarkozy had an office next to his, serving as his close adviser. In 2002, she was appointed to the Office of the Ministry of the Interior.[11] In 2005 she was appointed Chief-of-Staff for the UMP Party.[11]

Cécilia Sarkozy visited Libya twice in July 2007 to visit Muammar al-Gaddafi and helped in securing the release of five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor who had all spent years on Libya's death row after allegedly being tortured into confessing to infecting Libyan babies with the HIV virus.[12] The French left asked for Cécilia Sarkozy to be heard by the Parliamentary Commission expected to be created in October 2007 concerning the terms of the release of the six, as she had played an "important role" in their liberation according to Pierre Moscovici (PS).[13] The release process is described in the book Notes from Hell from the perspective of one of the medics, Valya Cherveniashka.[14]

Personal life

Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz moved in with the popular French TV host Jacques Martin in 1983. They married on 10 August 1984.[2] The wedding took place in Neuilly-sur-Seine at the town hall, and Nicolas Sarkozy, then the mayor of Neuilly, conducted the wedding. The Martins had two daughters, Judith Martin (b. 22 August 1984) and Jeanne-Marie Martin (b. 8 June 1987). She has a grandson, Augustin and a granddaughter Diane Elizabeth, born of her daughter Jeanne-Marie.

In 1987, Sarkozy, who was married to his first wife at the time, met Cécilia Martin again and has said he felt "struck by lightning".[10] Other sources, however, state that Sarkozy fell in love with the bride on their wedding day.[citation needed] Cécilia Martin left her husband to live with Sarkozy in 1988 and obtained a divorce three months later. Once Sarkozy had himself obtained a divorce in 1996, they married in Neuilly on 23 October 1996. The witnesses were Martin Bouygues and billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault. Six months later, on 23 April 1997, Cécilia Sarkozy gave birth to the couple's only child, Louis. Nicolas Sarkozy had two sons from his first marriage.

Nicolas Sarkozy once declared that Cécilia Sarkozy was his "strength and [his] Achilles' heel".[15] Nicolas Sarkozy wrote in his 2005 book, Testimony, "Today, Cécilia and I are reunited for good, for real, doubtless for ever ... [W]e are not able and do not know how to separate from each other." He has said his wife is his "true soulmate" and "the person without whom nothing I do would be possible". In July 2007, he said, "At the end of day, my only real worry is Cécilia."[16]

Rumors had circulated since Sarkozy's election as president in May 2007 that the couple had separated,[17][18] and further rumors surfaced in the French media in October 2007 that they were soon expected to announce their plans to divorce.[19] On 18 October 2007 the Élysée Palace released a statement declaring that the Sarkozys "announce their separation by mutual consent". Shortly afterwards, the palace corrected the separation announcement by stating that the Sarkozys had actually officially divorced.[20]

On 19 October 2007, an interview with Cécilia Sarkozy was published on the front page of L'Est Républicain, a regional French newspaper. In it, she admitted that she had run away with her lover, Richard Attias, in 2005 ("I met someone, I fell in love, I left") and that though she eventually returned to Sarkozy, they were unable to repair their marriage. "What happened to me has happened to millions of people: one day you no longer have your place in the couple. The couple is no longer the essential thing of your life. It no longer functions; it no longer works."[21]

She married Attias, Executive Chairman of The Experience, an events management company, on 23 March 2008, at Rockefeller Center in New York.[22]

Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women

In October 2008, Cécilia Attias announced the launch of the Cécilia Attias Foundation for Women, which "helps to actualize concrete improvement in the lives of women around the world by providing a strategic, financial, networking, and media platform for established nongovernmental organizations, social enterprises, and associations that champion the cause of women's equality and well-being."

References

  1. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (24 October 2007). "The Sarkozys' News". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  2. ^ a b c d "Cécilia Sarkozy: The First Lady vanishes". The Independent. London. 19 October 2007. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
  3. ^ Day, Elizabeth; Samuel, Henry (27 August 2005). "The photographer, the minister, his wife and her 'lover'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  4. ^ "Genealogy". GeneALL.net. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  5. ^ "Pre-history and first official title (1900–1910)". Real Madrid C.F. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  6. ^ Buck, Joan Juliet, "Political Heartache", Vogue, December 2007, page 180
  7. ^ Patrick Ciganer. "Full Radio Interview Transcript". NASA. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Telefonica Moviles S.A." Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  9. ^ Article of Marie-Cécile Royen in the Vif/L'Express, edition of 31 August 2007.
  10. ^ a b Wyatt, Caroline (15 May 2007). "Sarkozy soap opera grips Paris". BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  11. ^ a b "Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women". Ceciliaattiasfoundation.org. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Sarkozy's wife visits HIV medics" BBC, 13 July 2007
  13. ^ "France-Libye: la gauche réclame des explications à Cécilia Sarkozy", in Libération (with AFP), 14 August 2007 (in French)
  14. ^ "Notes from Hell". www.goodreads.com.
  15. ^ Simons, Stefan (28 May 2007). "Sarkozy and his model wife". Salon.com. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  16. ^ Equy, Laure (14 August 2007). "Au fond Cécilia, c'est mon seul souci". Libération (in French). Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  17. ^ "Toutes les réponses aux questions que vous vous posez sur les rumeurs autour du couple Sarkozy". 20 Minutes (in French). 15 October 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  18. ^ Walt, Vivienne (16 October 2007). "The Sarkozy Soap Opera". Time. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  19. ^ "Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Cécilia, are filing for divorce, French media reports". The New York Times. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  20. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (19 October 2007). "Sarkozy Faces Labor and Marital Crises". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  21. ^ Sciolino, Elaine (20 October 2007). "France's Former First Lady Admits Affair and Says Life in Public Eye Isn't for Her". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  22. ^ "Sarkozy ex-wife weds in New York". CNN. 24 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2008.

See also

Unofficial roles
Preceded by Spouse of the President of France
2007 		Vacant
Title next held by
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
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