Jean Messiha

Jean Messiha (born Hossam Messiha, Arabic: حسام مسيحة‎‎, 10 September 1970) is an Egyptian-born French economist, senior civil servant and politician. He became Deputy Under-Secretary for Management at the Ministry of Defence in 2014. A member of the National Rally (RN) since 2016, he is the spokesman of Horaces, a group of high-ranking civil servants and business executives who meet once a month to discuss the party platform. He was a candidate in the 2017 legislative election in Aisne's 4th constituency.

Jean Messiha
Born
Hossam Messiha

(1970-09-10) 10 September 1970
Cairo, Egypt
NationalityFrench
Alma materSciences Po
École nationale d'administration
OccupationHigh-ranking civil servant, political advisor and candidate
Political partyNational Rally

Early life

He was born Hossam Messiha in 1970 in Cairo, Egypt, to a family of Coptic Christians;[1] his father was a diplomat.[2][3] He lived in Bogotá, Colombia from the age of 3 to 7.[1] 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.[2][3]

Messiha graduated from Sciences Po, where one of his professors was Henri Guaino.[1] He earned a PhD in Economics.[2][1] His thesis was about the budgetary policies of the Maastricht Treaty and the Amsterdam Treaty.[1] He graduated from the École nationale d'administration in 2005.[3]

Career

Messiha began his career as a high-ranking civil servant in 2005.[3] He was appointed as deputy under-secretary of management at the Ministry of Defence in 2014.[3]

Messiha became an advisor to National Rally leader Marine Le Pen in 2014.[3] 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.[3][2][4] While the group announces more than 155 members, Messiha is the only one whose name has been publicly known so far.[4] 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".[3]

Messiha has asserted his belief in Renaud Camus's Great Replacement conspiracy theory, whereby white, Christian populations are being "replaced" through non-European immigration, specifically from Muslim and African countries.[2] On social media, he has expressed that Islam is at odds with France's republican system.[2] He is also a critic of the European Union.[1]

A candidate in the 2017 French legislative election to represent Aisne's 4th constituency in the National Assembly,[2][4] 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%.[5]

Personal life

Messiha became a naturalized French citizen at the age of 20,[6] changing his first name to "Jean" in the process.[3] He has described himself as a "naturalized ethnic Frenchman" (French: Français de souche par naturalisation)[2] and "Arab outside, French inside".[3] In February 2017, he was surprised to learn that, in spite of his naturalization, he was still considered an immigrant by the national statistics bureau of France, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE).[6]

References
  1. Folch, Arnaud (February 12, 2017). "Jean Messiha : l'autre énarque de Marine Le Pen". Valeurs actuelles. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  2. "Messiha, un haut fonctionnaire en charge du projet de Marine Le Pen". Le Point. February 4, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  3. Albertini, Dominique (February 10, 2017). "Jean Messiha, un cadre atypique au FN". Libération. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  4. Hausalter, Louis (April 17, 2017). "Jean Messiha, le nouveau techno de Marine Le Pen". Marianne. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  5. "2017 legislative election results for Aisne's 4th constituency". www.interieur.gouv.fr (in French). June 18, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  6. "Quand "Libé" apprend à un porte-parole du FN qu'il est immigré". Les Inrocks. February 10, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
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