Rachida Dati | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Minister of Culture | |
| Assumed office 11 January 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Gabriel Attal Michel Barnier François Bayrou Sébastien Lecornu |
| Preceded by | Rima Abdul Malak |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 18 May 2007 – 23 June 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | François Fillon |
| Preceded by | Pascal Clément |
| Succeeded by | Michèle Alliot-Marie |
| Mayor of the7th arrondissement of Paris | |
| Assumed office 29 March 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Michel Dumont |
| Councillor of Paris | |
| Assumed office 21 March 2008 | |
| Constituency | 7th arrondissement |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 14 July 2009 – 1 July 2019 | |
| Constituency | Île-de-France |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1965-11-27)27 November 1965 (age 59) |
| Citizenship | France • Morocco |
| Political party | Independent (2024–2025; since 2025) |
| Other political affiliations | UMP (2006–2015) LR (2015–2024; 2025) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of Burgundy (MAEs) Panthéon-Assas University (LLB) |
| Occupation | Lawyer •Magistrate •Politician |
Rachida Dati ([ʁaʃidadati]ⓘ; born 27 November 1965) is a French politician, lawyer and magistrate who has served asMinister of Culture since January 2024 in thegovernment ofGabriel Attal,government ofMichel Barnier,government ofFrançois Bayrou and thefirst andsecond governments ofSébastien Lecornu. She previously wasMinister of Justice from 2007 to 2009 under Prime MinisterFrançois Fillon.
A member ofThe Republicans (LR), Dati was aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2019, representingÎle-de-France. She was a spokesperson forNicolas Sarkozy during his2007 presidential campaign; following his victory, he appointed her to theGovernment.
Dati was elected to the mayorship of the7th arrondissement of Paris in 2008, when she also entered theCouncil of Paris. In the2020 Paris municipal election, she unsuccessfully ran forMayor of Paris against incumbentAnne Hidalgo. Following the election, she was installed as opposition leader in the Council of Paris.
Rachida Dati (Arabic:رشيدة داتي) was born on 27 November 1965 inSaint-Rémy,Burgundy, to aMoroccan father, abricklayer named M'Barek Dati (1934–2017), and anAlgerian mother, named Fatima-Zohra (died in 2001). Her parentsimmigrated to France in 1963.[1] She was the second child of eleven in an impoverished family (eight girls and three boys). She spent her childhood inChalon-sur-Saône.[2][3][4]
Even though Dati was raised in a devout Islamic environment, she attendedRoman Catholic schools; Dati's own personal religious beliefs have been described as "unclear".[5] When asked about her North African origins, she stated she saw herself first and foremost as a "daughter of France".[6] Dati studied at theUniversity of Burgundy inDijon, where she received amaster's degree ineconomics, as well as atPanthéon-Assas University inParis, where she later received alaw degree.[7]
At the age of sixteen, Dati started working as amaid and as aparamedical assistant. She then worked for three years as anaccountant atElf Aquitaine while at university.
Rachida Dati tried to studymedicine, but failed twice in her first year. In October 1985, she completed aDEUG ineconomics at theUniversity of Dijon.[8]
After meetingJean-Luc Lagardère in 1990, Dati entered the audit management team ofMatra Nortel communication. She later spent a year inLondon at theEuropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development, in the records management and archiving department. In 1994, she was an auditing supervisor and secretary-general of the bureau of urban development studies atSuez (then Lyonnaise des Eaux). From 1995 to 1997, she worked as a technical advisor at the legal management division of theMinistry of Education.[9]
In 1997, following the advice ofSimone Veil andAlbin Chalandon, Dati was admitted to and joined theÉcole nationale de la magistrature (French National School for the Judiciary), a public educational institution which offers courses necessary to become a magistrate. Upon leaving in 1999, she became a legal auditor at theBobignytribunal de grande instance (high court). She went on to become a judge for collective procedures[10] at thetribunal de grande instance inPéronne and eventually an assistant in the financial section to the prosecutor of theÉvrytribunal de grande instance.
In 2002, Dati becameNicolas Sarkozy's advisor, working for him on an anti-delinquency project. In 2006, she joined theUnion for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. On 14 January 2007, she was named spokesperson for Sarkozy on the day he was chosen as UMP candidate for the presidential elections of April 2007.
After Sarkozy's victory on 6 May 2007, she was appointedMinister of Justice, making her the first political figure born toNorth African immigrant parents to occupy a sovereign ministry in aFrench government. Her rationalization of the court system was publicly opposed by judicial professionals.[11] Later on, it was recognised by the French Court of Auditors as one of the most ambitious reforms of the judicial institution.[12] When the Sarkozys' marriage began to break up, Dati frequently went on official presidential trips to accompany Nicolas Sarkozy.[13]
On 23 January 2009, Sarkozy announced that Dati would take the second position on the UMP candidate list for theÎle-de-France constituency in theEuropean Parliament election in June 2009, to which she was elected.[14] She left her post as minister after being elected as aMember of the European Parliament.
Soon after she left the government, in the summer of 2009, Dati switched to law, becoming a junior magistrate and assistant prosecutor.[15] She also founded a consulting company called "La Bourdonnais consultant,"[16] which she had to dissolve at the beginning of 2010 to be able to resume the profession of lawyer, which she had to do by special dispensation (like other former magistrates).[17] She sits on the editorial board of the French version of theHuffington Post, where she writes a weekly column about women's issues.[18]
A member of theEuropean People's Party group in the European Parliament,[19] Dati served on theCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the parliament's delegations for relations with the Mashreq countries, to theParliamentary Assembly of theUnion for the Mediterranean, and for relations with theArab Peninsula.
In parliament, Dati was the Parliament'srapporteur on several texts dealing with countering terrorism and the prevention of radicalisation and recruitment of European citizens by terrorist organisations.[20] Following theCharlie Hebdo shooting in 2015, she drafted a report into how to prevent the radicalisation of young Europeans.[21] Thefinal report was adopted on the 25th of November 2015 with broad support from the parliament after having passedThe Civil Liberties Committee approved the non-binding resolution by 41 votes to 7, with 6 abstentions. Her parliamentary work also included dealing with the prison systems and conditions in the European Union, and finding solutions to face the migration crisis with an EU common list of safe countries of origin.[22]
In the UMP's2012 leadership election, Dati endorsedJean-François Copé.[23]
In the Republicans’2017 leadership election, Dati endorsedLaurent Wauquiez.[24]
On the local level, Dati has been serving as Mayor of the 7th district of Paris and a member of theCouncil of Paris.[25] On 9 February 2013, Dati announced she was a candidate formayor of Paris in the 2014 local elections but she later withdrew because "the press has already chosenNathalie Kosciusko-Morizet".
In early 2019, Dati announced her plan to run again for theParis municipal election in 2020.[26] Since 2020, she has been chairing her party's group in the Council of Paris.[27]
On 11 January 2024, Dati made a surprise comeback to national politics, being nominated asMinister of Culture in thegovernment ofGabriel Attal.[28][29] As a consequence,Les Républicains PresidentÉric Ciotti announced her exclusion from the party.[30][31]
She retained her position on 21 September 2024 in thegovernment ofMichel Barnier, and then on 23 December in thegovernment ofFrançois Bayrou.[32][33] She again retained her position on 5 October 2025 in thefirst government ofSébastien Lecornu and 12 October 2025 in theSecond Lecornu government.[34][35]
On 19 October 2025, the2025 Louvre robbery happened, with Dati being involved in the investigation.
In early 2009, Dati received an anonymous death threat accompanied by a 9 mm bullet.[36]
Soon after Dati left the government in 2009 to stand for the European Parliament, she was hired by theRenault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance as a legal advisor.[37] In 2019, France's financial prosecutor launched an investigation into consulting fees she received from the alliance.[38]
In December 2013, French media reported that Dati had received payments from French energy utilityGDF-Suez. In early 2014, thePresident of the European ParliamentMartin Schulz asked parliamentary services to look into conflict-of-interest concerns, but the inquiry was interrupted by the 2014 election campaign. At the same time, the independent French administrative authorityHATVP, France's anti-corruption watchdog, also opened a file on the case.[39] In August 2021, Dati was charged by France's financial crime unit with passive corruption and benefiting from abuse of power.[40] On 27 September 2021,Arte reported howcaviar diplomacy led to the rejection of a report onAzerbaijani political prisoners by the European Parliament in 2013. The claim was made that the rejection was due to bribery of EU parliamentarians; Dati stood out as one of the leading voices to reject the report about the state of democracy in Azerbaijan. Her Italian colleagueLuca Volontè was sentenced for accepting bribes. Volontè received €2.4 million as bribes from a 30 million-euro bribe fund of the Azerbaijani fund to thwart EU guidelines by bribing its institutions.[41][42]
Under her direction, on the morning of 19 October 2025 the Musée du Louvre announced the museum would be closed for the day "for exceptional reasons". According to the French Ministry of Culture and media reports, the theft occurred at the gallery known as the Galerie d’Apollon, where jewellery from the French Crown-Jewels collection — including nine items said to belong to Napoleon and the Empress, such as a necklace, tiara and brooch — were on display. French authorities launched an investigation. The Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, stated she was on-site with museum staff and police. At the time of the report, the full list of stolen items, precise value and suspect details were not publicly disclosed.The stolen objects are part of the historic collection of the French Crown Jewels and imperial jewellery, held at one of the foremost museums in the world. The incident raises significant concerns regarding the security of national patrimony and cultural heritage. For background, the French Crown Jewels are held today in the Louvre among other collections.[43]
In 2020, Franco-Algerian lobbyist Tayeb Benabderrahmane claimed he had beenarbitrarily detained and tortured inQatar, in a context linked to his possession of compromising documents concerningNasser al-Khelaïfi, president ofParis Saint-Germain. After returning to France, he filed a complaint, leading to the opening of ajudicial investigation in Paris for kidnapping, unlawful detention, and extortion in an organized group.[44]
On 27 June 2023, the offices of Dati – at the 7th arrondissement town hall and in her law practice – were searched, as were those of lawyersFrancis Szpiner andOlivier Pardo, in connection with the investigation.[45]
The judges examined the alleged role of Dati and Szpiner, then mayor of the 16th arrondissement, in negotiations surrounding the release of Tayeb Benabderrahmane, with the FrenchNational Financial Prosecutor's Office suspecting talks conducted outside the official procedure.[46]
As of 2025, no formal indictment had been announced, but Dati continued to be cited in the affair, which remains under investigation by the French judiciary. At the same time, in the summer of 2025, theUnited Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recognized the arbitrary nature of Benabderrahmane's detention in Qatar and called on the Qatari authorities to conduct an investigation and provide reparation for the harm suffered.[47]
In November 1992, Rachida Dati married a family friend fromAlgeria, "with whom she had nothing to share", in her words, to put an end to the "recurring pressures" from her family, what she describes as a "forced marriage". The following month, she requested theannulment of this union, which was pronounced in 1995.[48]
In September 2008, Dati announced that she was pregnant and would be a single mother. She revealed her pregnancy to a group of reporters who questioned her about mounting rumours. "I want to remain careful, because (...) I am still in arisk area. I am 42", she was quoted as saying.[49] Her daughter was born in January 2009. As the name of the father was not revealed, many names circulated ingossip magazines.[50] Before her daughter was born, she suffered severalmiscarriages.[51][52]
However, in 2012, she started legal action againstDominique Desseigne, the chief executive ofGroupe Lucien Barrière, a casino market leader in France,Switzerland and Europe, in order to establish the paternity of her child.[53][54][55] In December 2012, a French court ordered Desseigne to undergo apaternity test to see if he fathered Dati's child.[56] After Desseigne refused to undergo the test, a French court decision of 7 January 2016 ruled that Desseigne was indeed the father.[57]
In November 2016, she was listed as one ofBBC's 100 Women, having "blazed a trail for Muslim women and minorities in France".[58]
Dati was born toMuslim parents. However, she attendsRoman Catholic mass every Sunday.[59]
Morocco:Grand Officer of theOrder of Ouissam Alaouite (April 2010)[60]
Two Sicilian Royal Family:KnightGrand Cross of theRoyal Order of Francis I[61]
France:Commander of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (January 2024){{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Minister of Justice 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Culture 2024–present | Incumbent |
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| Preceded by | The Republicans nominee forMayor of Paris 2020 (lost) | Most recent |
FirstFillon government | ||
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SecondFillon government | ||
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| International | |
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