Gabriel Attal
Gabriel Nissim Attal de Couriss (French pronunciation: [ɡabʁijɛl atal]; born 16 March 1989) is a French politician serving as the Prime Minister of France since January 2024.
Gabriel Attal
Position established
Renaissance (since 2016)
Socialist Party (2006–2016)
Stéphane Séjourné (2015–2022)
A member of the Renaissance party, Attal rapidly rose up the political ranks following his election to the National Assembly in June 2017; he became the Junior Minister to the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2018, which made him the youngest person to serve in the Government of France, the Spokesperson of the Government in 2020, the Minister of Public Action and Accounts in 2022, and the Minister of National Education and Youth in 2023.
On 9 January 2024, amid a major government crisis, Attal was appointed by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to replace Élisabeth Borne as Prime Minister of France. At the age of 34, he became the youngest person and the first openly gay person to serve as a G7 head of government as well as the ninth openly LGBT person and the youngest person currently serving as a head of state or government in the world.
In June 2024, only 5 months after becoming Prime Minister, Attal was tasked with leading the governing coalition into the 2024 snap legislative election triggered by President Macron's decision to dissolve the National Assembly 3 years early as a result of the dramatic defeat suffered by his political alliance in the
2024 European elections.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Attal was born on 16 March 1989 in Clamart, Île-de-France. He grew up in the 13th and 14th arrondissements of Paris with three sisters. His father, Yves Attal, was a lawyer and film producer; his mother, Marie de Couriss,[a] worked as an employee of a film production company.[3][4] His father was Jewish and his mother an Orthodox Christian; Attal was raised in his mother's Orthodox Christian faith,[3] but would not maintain the faith in later years.[5]
Attal attended the École alsacienne, an exclusive private school in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. He obtained a Baccalauréat with a "Mention Très Bien" in 2007.[6] He went on to study law at Panthéon-Assas University from 2008 to 2011, and earned a Master of Public Affairs from Sciences Po in 2012. He also spent a year (2009–2010) working with Éric de Chassey, director of the French Academy in Rome.[7]
His earliest political activity was participation in the 2006 youth protests in France.[8] Taking up a place at Sciences Po in 2007, he created a committee for the support of Íngrid Betancourt, the Franco-Colombian hostage held by the FARC.[9]
Political career[edit]
National advisory and municipal[edit]
After an internship at the French National Assembly with Marisol Touraine during the 2012 presidential campaign, Attal worked for five years as an advisor to the Minister of Health, a role which involved parliamentary liaison and speechwriting.[10]
In the 2014 municipal elections, Attal was placed fifth on the Socialist Party list. He was elected as one of the four Socialist Party councilors of Vanves and took over the lead of the opposition, after the resignation of the head of the socialist list.[11]
Member of the National Assembly (2017–2018)[edit]
Attal was elected to the French National Assembly on 18 June 2017, representing the Hauts-de-Seine's 10th constituency, winning out over the designated successor of André Santini.[10][12]
Attal was quickly considered one of the most talented new members of parliament, with Amélie de Montchalin.[13] As a deputy of the National Assembly, he became a member of the Committee on Cultural and Education Affairs, where he served as whip of the group La République En Marche!.[14]
In December 2017, Attal was appointed rapporteur on a bill on access to higher education.[15]
Attal was named chairperson of La République En Marche! in January 2018[16] and in September 2018, after the election of Richard Ferrand to the presidency of the National Assembly, he ran as a candidate to succeed him as president of the group La République En Marche!, but withdrew his candidacy the day before the election when he was considered one of the three favourites.[17] He later endorsed Roland Lescure.[18]
Personal life[edit]
In 2018, Attal was outed on Twitter by his former École alsacienne classmate Juan Branco.[31][32] Attal lived in a civil union with Stéphane Séjourné at the time.[33] Their relationship had ended by 2024.[3]
When they were both attending the École alsacienne, Attal had a relationship with singer Joyce Jonathan,[34] but Jonathan said that the relationship was merely "a joke between us" and "a playtime crush".[35]
Attal said in a TV interview that he had been subjected to homophobic bullying at school.[3] He has also described being the target of homophobic and antisemitic hate speech on social media as a politician.[36] Attal has also been criticized by LGBT rights organizations for not being outspoken enough about his sexuality and the promotion of LGBT rights.[37][38]
Though baptized as a member of the Russian Orthodox Christian Church, Attal considers himself an atheist.[5][39]
Ancestry[edit]
Attal's father was of Tunisian Jewish and Alsatian Jewish descent. His mother is of French and Greek-Russian ancestry from Odessa, her Russian grandfather having arrived in France as a refugee. Genealogists have found both French and Russian nobility, including members of the Galitzine, amongst her ancestors. Through his mother, Attal is descended from King Charles VI of France and Queen consort Isabeau of Bavaria who signed the Treaty of Troyes making King Henry V of England heir to the French throne during the Hundred Years' War.[40]
