His father was a commercial director, became involved in politics and then entered the French Senate. After school, de Villepin studied law and literature. He then attended the École Nationale d''Administration in Paris. He became involved early on with the French Gaullists, whose party initially operated as the RPR and then, since 2002, as the UMP. In 1980 de Villepin entered the diplomatic service. He was initially responsible for African and Malagasy affairs for the French Foreign Ministry until 1984.

From 1984 to 1989, de Villepin worked as press officer at the French Embassy in Washington and from 1989 to 1992 as deputy ambassador of France in Delhi, India. In 1992/93 he worked again at the Foreign Ministry in Paris as representative for Africa and Madagascar. De Villepin was appointed chief of staff to Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in 1993; He held this position until 1995. In 1995, he was promoted to Secretary General of the Presidential Office under the new French President Jacques Chirac, serving in this capacity until 2002, becoming one of the French head of state's closest confidants.

On May 7, 2002, de Villepin was appointed Foreign Minister. In this role, in February 2003, together with the German government, he led the European opposition to the US war of aggression against Iraq. The French foreign minister attracted international attention for his unyielding stance on the issue at the United Nations Assembly. At the end of March 2004, de Villepon moved to the post of French Interior Minister. In this office, he primarily took up the fight against radical Islamism in France and introduced stricter regulations for immigration.

As a result of the negative result of a referendum on the EU constitution on May 29, 2005, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigned. President Chirac then appointed de Villepin as the new French head of government on May 31, 2005. After Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in the French presidential election, de Villepin handed over his letter of resignation to outgoing President Jacques Chirac on May 15, 2007. In addition to his diplomatic and political activities, de Villepin also distinguished himself as a writer. He has already published books on French culture and a biography of Napoleon.

Dominique de Villepin is married and has three children.

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Dominique de Villepin

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