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France’s Jacques Chirac, iconic political titan passes away

Jacques Chirac served as French president for 12 years (1995-2007), twice as prime minister and three times as mayor of Paris

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Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, 1975

© Vladimir Musaelyan, Alexander Konkov/TASS

French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in Moscow, 1987

© Viktor Budan, Valentin Kuzmin/TASS

The USSR Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikolai Ryzhkov and French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac meeting at the airport, 1987

© Viktor Budan, Valentin Kuzmin/TASS

French Prime Minister Jacque Chirac talking to Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov, 1987

© Valentin Kuzmin/TASS

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac, 1985

Russian President Boris Yeltsin and French President Jacques Chirac with their spouses, 1995

© Anatoly Morkovkin/TASS

French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Boris Yeltsin are seen during a meeting, 1997

© Alexander Chumichev/TASS

Presidents of Russia and France Vladimir Putin and Jacques Chirac pictured during fishing, 2001

© Sergei Velichkin/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder talking in Hotel Rus in the town of Svetlogorsk, Russia's Kaliningrad Region, 2005

© Vladimir Rodionov)/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are seen during a meeting, 2006

© Vladimir Rodionov/TASS

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev greeting former French President Jacques Chirac before a dinner at the restaurant of the House of Writers, Moscow, 2008

© Dmitry Astakhov/TASS

Former French President Jacques Chirac has passed away at the age of 86. From 1995 to 2007, Chirac served as France’s head of state, in addition to being a two-time prime minister and having thrice been elected as mayor of Paris. Chirac made over 300 foreign visits, including more than ten visits to Russia. A huge fan of Russian literature, in his youth, Chirac learned Russian and even translated a chapter of Alexander Pushkin’s novel Eugene Onegin into French. The former French president was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation and the Order for Merit to the Fatherland. Here's a look back at his visits to the USSR and Russia throughout the years.

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