For years, the far-right National Rally tried to distance itself from Mr. Le Pen’s racist and antisemitic remarks. But after his death Tuesday, it hailed him as a visionary.

Once called the 'most hated man in France', Le Pen maintained that his ideas were simply 'ahead of their time'

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French far-right political party the National Front, has died aged 96, a senior party official has announced.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, has died aged 96. Le Pen, who led the party for nearly four decades until 2011, when it was called National Front (FN), had previously been taken to hospital with suspected heart problems.

Marine Le Pen, parliamentary leader of France's far-right National Rally, on Wednesday commemorated the death of her father and the party's founder. Jean-Marie Le Pen. "A venerable age had taken the warrior,

Controversy was Le Pen's constant companion: accusations of racism and antisemitism dogged the National Front from when he co-founded the party.

The church Notre-Dame du Val de Grace, in Paris, has been the scene of the tribute with a religious ceremony to the founder of the French National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last Tuesday at the age of 96.