He said it himself: Je suis un franchouillard. A derogatory term for an ‘average’ French person, that midde-class ‘Français moyen’ with all its preconceptions. Yet there was nothing average about Bernard Tapie. His death this week after a long battle with cancer was perhaps the only average thing he ever did.
Yet even that was exceptional. Tapie’s friends, from the world of entertainment and sport, politicians and media personalities, united in saying that he was a fighter, one who never gave up. Until the end he was climbing stairs to stay fit. Even when cancer turned his voice into a whisper, he was outspoken about his battle with the disease. And when he and his wife were victims of a brutal break-in to their Paris home earlier this year, he hid nothing of their shock and the injuries suffered in the attack.
It was shocking to see this once-powerful man reduced to an obviously feeble state. He showed humility but no shame, and I admired him for that.
The Paris-born Tapie was loved and hated by the French in equal measures. The son of a working-class family, in the 1980s he became the symbol of the successful businessman, le self-made man. He made his fortune buying up failing companies, the most famous of which was Adidas, and turning them around. He also owned sports teams like L’Olympique de Marseille (OM). (As an aside, I know nothing of football beyond how important it to those that follow it. Living in provincial France, you were either a fan of L’OM or L’OL, Lyon’s team.)
But Bernard Tapie was much more than a businessman. He was also a politician. Some have called him a French Trump, although I think he had more integrity. But here’s the twist: he ran as a socialist. Possibly nowhere but in France would a figurehead of the free market stand for a party on the left. Yet this is what happened when Tapie became a protegé of President François Mitterand and a deputy in the Bouches-du-Rhône department. A firm opponent of the far-right Front National, Tapie went head to head with party leader Jean Marie Le Pen on a televised debate over immigration.
This was in 1989, after we were married but still living in Canada, so I followed from afar. But I came to understand that it was groundbreaking. Why? At the time, the main political parties did not believe that the FN should be given a voice on national television. But Tapie argued that someone had to stand up to Le Pen and call him out on his lies publicly.
He later became a government minister but his political career ended early when his legal woes began, mostly over the fraud around the sale of Adidas by Credit Lyonnais. The complexities are beyond this post but the case dragged over for 26 years and court appeals were still ongoing at the time of his death.
What I find most intriguing about Tapie was his resilience. After going bankrupt, being ineligible for politics and banned from football, he returned to his first love: the arts.
Bernard Tapie began his career as a singer, but despite his obvious talent (and changing his name to ‘Tapy’) it was not to be. Yet he never gave up on his artistic ambitions completely. He continued to make singing and acting appearances throughout his career, also hosting TV programs. He later took to the stage, performing notably in the French version of the play, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’.
The news of Bernard Tapie’s death this week at the age of 78 came as a shock. Somehow it seemed he would survive his battle against cancer, like so many others he had won. He was larger-than-life. An upstart, a renegade, one who reached great heights and lost it all. He was completely original; you couldn’t make him up. You could love him or hate him but you couldn’t be indifferent. And that, perhaps, is what made him quintessentially French.
Salut Bernard.
FranceSays 
Thank you for sharing this. And you have to have a level of respect on a person who is willing to stand up to someone spouting lies and calling them on those lies. What a difference that could have made in the U.S. Anyway, thank you for sharing this. It was really interesting.
Thank you for reading! Very pleased it resonates from afar.
Yes, that was interesting. Somehow, he never made it across my radar, and sadly, it’s a bit late to catch up now.
I can see how that might be. After the late 90s, most of the news around his name had to do with his legal problems. Sad. He really was an interesting character!
Tapie, le Boss!!
Et oui! Spoken like a true OM supporter.
🤣🤣🤣
What a eulogy! You seem to have really liked him. And you taught me a French word I didn’t know… never needed it 😉
Actually what’s funny is that I never really did like him much at the time. But looking back now I realize how much I admire him. Glad to have given you a new word, but watch out: it is pretty insulting! Not sure if there is a Swiss equivalent? 🧐 (Or maybe there’s nothing negative about being an average Swiss?)
Someone I never would have known about otherwise. Thank you for this fascinating post!
Yes, he was not well known beyond France and our European neighbours. Glad you enjoyed, MK!
What an interesting fellow! And his singing voice is just so French! It reminds me a little of Jean Ferrat – a compliment as he is one of the many I love to listen to.
I was quite surprised by that early clip, Dale. Agree he had a pretty fine voice and I also really like that old style of singing. Later he became known for his rendition of the ‘Blues du businessman’ from Starmania which I think was written by our fellow Canadian Luc Plamondon!
I’d never heard of Tapie before this post, but I listened to him sing,and my jaw dropped. He had a great voice. A man of many talents. Rest in peace.
I suspect his story was mostly known to the French. But you are right: he had a fine voice. I’m happy to have brought his talents to the attention of a few international connaisseurs! 😌
I particularly like the way he ‘sold’ the story of the song. Thank you. 🙂