Former French president Valéry Giscard dies of coronavirus at 94

PARIS: Former president of France Valéry Giscard d’Estaing died on Wednesday at his family home in the Loir-et-Cher area of central France at the age of 94 years.

According to French media, the former president passed away due to coronavirus. 

As a conservative president and a descendant of nobility, he sought to make the French government more responsive to the people but was thwarted by an economic slowdown, demographic shifts and an imperious bearing.

Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the modern-minded conservative became president of France in 1974 vowing to transform his tradition-bound, politically polarized country, only to be driven out of office seven years later. 

However, he decriminalised abortion in 1975 and created a minister for women's issues. He also lowered the voting age from of 21 to 18, which was seen in its day as a big step for French youth.