In the 1750s, the philosopher Fontenelle, approaching his 100 years and meeting a very old lady in a living room, heard this one say to him: "Death has forgotten us, Mr. Fontenelle." "Hush, ma'am, she could hear us , " he replied maliciously. Albin Chalandon, the last baron of Gaullism, who died a hundred years ago a few days ago, had the fate of a Fontenelle.
He was a man of great stature, who rendered little-known or forgotten services to France. He was disappointed by his reserve and his "British" demeanor, which we took for coldness, as well as by his time in the bank and his "glamorous" lifestyle - he used the word one day in front of us - which were frowned upon in the 1960s and 1970s by politicians. This can no doubt be explained by the fact that the appearance of his name in a few scandals (sniffer planes, the Chaumet affair) created towards him, among some, a suspicion mixed with envy, which no proof has ever justified. Remember that some
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