ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601100132
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PARIS
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Francois Mitterrand, a leading architect of European unity who promoted France's role on the world stage, died of prostate cancer Monday at 79. World leaders remembered him as a great statesman - and a friend.
President of France from 1981 to 1995, Mitterrand abandoned his socialist vision after determining that his country would remain a world power only within a strong Europe.
His vision of a unified Europe and a nagging recession led him to cast off dreams of nationalizing broad sectors of French industry and to push instead for European economic integration.
Mitterrand worked tirelessly with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to construct the European Union, forging a much-debated Maastricht Treaty that calls for a single currency and common defense and foreign policies among member countries.
``I am mourning a good friend. We worked together in a close and trusting way for many years in the building of Europe and the deepening of German-French friendship,'' Kohl said. ``Europe has lost a great statesman.''
Mitterrand also sought to project a strong French presence on the international stage, sending troops to Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia and the Persian Gulf.
``Not only France, but the United States and the entire world, benefited from his strong and principled leadership,'' President Clinton said in a statement.
In Houston, former President Bush called him ``one of the great leaders of our time.''
``He was a man of his word, and I had great respect for his intellect and for his innate sense of decency,'' Bush said. ``He was my friend, and I will miss him very much.''
Conservative rival Jacques Chirac, who succeeded Mitterrand as president, said he ``wrote an important page in the history of our country. ... He made the concept of Europe progress with determination.''
Mitterrand's reputation, like his health, declined swiftly in the last year of his presidency as unflattering disclosures tarnished his image.
Books and articles chronicled his work with Nazi sympathizers in World War II, confirmed he fathered an illegitimate daughter and depicted him as a schemer with few abiding political values beyond a thirst for power.
Although an eloquent advocate of human rights and a veteran of the French Resistance, Mitterrand was criticized for working with Nazi collaborators during World War II, and his government in later years was plagued by scandals.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP file/1981. Francois Mitterrand\French president forby CNB14 years.