Jean Messiha
Jean Messiha | |
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.jpg) Messiha in 2022 | |
| Born | Hossam Boutros Messiha 10 September 1970 Cairo, Egypt |
| Nationality | Egyptian French (since 1990) |
| Alma mater | Sciences Po École nationale d'administration |
| Occupation(s) | Economist, civil servant, political advisor, commentator |
| Political party | Reconquête (2022–present) |
| Other political affiliations | National Rally (2016–2020) Independent (2020–2022) |
| Movement | Far-right on Internet and social networks |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in France |
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Jean Messiha (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ mesja]; born Hossam Boutros Messiha, Arabic: حسام بطرس مسيحة, 10 September 1970) is an Egyptian-born French far-right economist, media personality, and formerly a politician and senior civil servant. He was appointed Deputy Undersecretary of Management at the Ministry of Defence in 2014 before he joined the National Front (FN) in 2016, when he became spokesman of Horaces, a group of high-ranking civil servants and business executives who meet once a month to discuss the party platform. Messiha stood as a candidate in the 2017 legislative election in the 4th constituency of the Aisne department.
In 2020, he left the party to assume the presidency of the Apollon Institute, a far-right think tank.[1] In 2022, Messiha joined presidential candidate Éric Zemmour's newly-founded Reconquête party and became its spokesman.
Early life
Messiha was born Hossam Boutros Messiha in 1970 in Cairo, Egypt, to a family of Coptic Christians;[2] his father was a diplomat.[3][4] He lived in Bogotá, Colombia from the age of 3 to 7.[2] At the age of 8, he arrived with his family in France, reportedly "not speaking a word of French". He then grew up in Mulhouse.[3][4] In 1990, upon his naturalisation as a French citizen, he changed his first name to Jean.
Messiha graduated from Sciences Po, where one of his professors was Henri Guaino.[2] He earned a PhD in Economics.[3][2] His thesis was about the budgetary policies of the Maastricht Treaty and Amsterdam Treaty.[2] He graduated from the École nationale d'administration in 2005.[4]
Career
Messiha began his career as a high-ranking civil servant in 2005.[4] He was appointed as Deputy Undersecretary of Management at the Ministry of Defence in 2014.[4]
Messiha became an advisor to National Rally leader Marine Le Pen in 2014.[4] In May 2016, he became the spokesman of the "Horaces", a group of high-ranking civil servants and business executives, supporting Marine Le Pen, who meet once a month and discuss the political platform of the National Rally.[4][3][5] While the group announces more than 155 members, Messiha is the only one whose name has been publicly known so far.[5] According to Dominique Albertini of Libération, Messiha's role within the National Rally is to represent "the drawing power of [the party] towards high-ranking civil servants".[4]
Messiha has asserted his belief in Renaud Camus's Great Replacement conspiracy theory, whereby Christian populations are being "replaced" through non-European immigration, specifically from Muslim and African countries.[3] On social media, he has expressed that Islam is at odds with France's republican system.[3] He is also a critic of the European Union.[2]
A candidate in the 2017 French legislative election to represent Aisne's 4th constituency in the National Assembly,[3][5] Messiha was defeated in the second round by La République En Marche! candidate Marc Delatte, with 43.73% of valid votes against Delatte's 56.27%.[6]
In November 2020, several news outlets reported that Messiha was going to leave the National Rally.[7][8][9] This was later confirmed by Messiha, who announced his departure in an interview published in Valeurs actuelles.[10] In March 2021, Jean Messiha made the headlines[citation needed] in affirming the existence of a "black privilege" during the 46th César Awards.[11][better source needed]
During the 2022 French presidential election, Messiha has supported the candidacy of Éric Zemmour.
According to the news website Mediapart, he continued to receive salaries from the Defense ministry from 2017 to 2022.[12]
On 8 November 2023 Arcom decided to classify Jean Mesiha as "personalities of various right-wingers". Speaking time on television sets is therefore deducted from the allocated time.[13]
Media presence and activism
Since the late 2010s, the Messiha's fame grows in France, mainly due to his interventions in the TV shows of C8 and CNews and his activities on social networks.
In 2020, the French website Arrêt sur images indicates Messiha is "the favourite RN's member of Canal+ group".[14] Moreover, his debate with Yassine Belattar has exceed 700 000 views on Youtube.[14]
Speaking enormously and very often on the social networks, his number of subscribers on Twitter increased from 40 000 in 2019[15] to 110 000 in 2020.[16] In August 2021, his Twitter account has been suspended because of his words judged hateful.[17] However, it has been reactivated in January 2023 following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk.
In July 2023, he organised on the GoFundMe website a fundraiser in favour of the family of the policeman indicted for killing Nahel Merzouk. It raised more than a million euros in a few days.[18]
Personal life
Messiha became a naturalised French citizen at the age of 20,[19] changing his first name to "Jean" in the process.[4] He has described himself as a "naturalized ethnic Frenchman" (French: Français de souche par naturalisation)[3] and "Arab outside, French inside".[4] In February 2017, he was surprised to learn that, in spite of his naturalisation, he was still considered an immigrant by the national statistics bureau of France, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE).[19]
References
- ^ "Génération identitaire, au cœur de l'ultradroite décomplexée". leparisien.fr (in French). 26 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Folch, Arnaud (12 February 2017). "Jean Messiha : l'autre énarque de Marine Le Pen". Valeurs actuelles. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Messiha, un haut fonctionnaire en charge du projet de Marine Le Pen". Le Point. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Albertini, Dominique (10 February 2017). "Jean Messiha, un cadre atypique au FN". Libération. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Hausalter, Louis (17 April 2017). "Jean Messiha, le nouveau techno de Marine Le Pen". Marianne. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ "2017 legislative election results for Aisne's 4th constituency". www.interieur.gouv.fr (in French). 18 June 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ^ "Rassemblement national : Jean Messiha quitte le parti". Le Point (in French). 4 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Laubacher, Paul (3 November 2020). "Jean Messiha va quitter le RN". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Sapin, Charles (3 November 2020). "Jean Messiha claque la porte du RN". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Denis, Tugdual (3 November 2020). "Jean Messiha : "Pourquoi je quitte le Rassemblement national"". Valeurs Actuelles (in French). Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ ""Il y a un privilège noir" : Jean Messiha dérape sur les César, et s'en prend à Jean-Pascal Zadi, chez Pascal Praud !". 15 March 2021.
- ^ Turchi, Justine Brabant, Marine (20 June 2023). "Jean Messiha, la haine sur fonds publics". Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 20 June 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Messiha, Jean (24 November 2023). "Jean Messiha : Cet insupportable immigré amoureux de la France que l'on veut faire taire". Valeur Actuelle (in French). Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Arrêt sur images". www.arretsurimages.net. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ "Jean Messiha, le ferrailleur venu d'Egypte du RN". l'Opinion (in French). 11 September 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ "INFO OBS. Jean Messiha va quitter le RN". L'Obs (in French). 3 November 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ Brustier, Gaël (5 August 2021). "Jean Messiha, le retour de bâton d'une parole investie quasi-exclusivement sur les réseaux privés". Slate.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ "Emeutes : comment l'extrême droite instrumentalise la cagnotte de soutien à la famille du policier". Le Monde.fr (in French). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Quand "Libé" apprend à un porte-parole du FN qu'il est immigré". Les Inrocks. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
Jean Messiha fortune Jean Messiha, figure éminente des médias et de la politique française, est connu pour ses opinions d’extrême droite et sa longue carrière d’économiste, de fonctionnaire et de commentateur. Né Hossam Boutros Messiha au Caire, en Égypte, le 10 septembre 1970, Messiha est ensuite devenu citoyen français et a adopté le nom de Jean lors de sa naturalisation en 1990.
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