Pierre Bérégovoy in Nevers, Nièvre (58)

Pierre Bérégovoy (1925-1993) was for a relatively brief time (2 April 1992 to 29 March 1993) Prime Minister under President François Mitterrand's second term of office. His reputation as a fighter of corruption was injured by his borrowing a sum of money without interest from businessman Roger-Patrice Pelat to buy an apartment in Paris. Although he'd declared the loan and there was no corruption, his image became severely tarnished. On 1 May 1993 the police declared that he had killed himself. His family said that he'd been depressed after the defeat of the left in the March legislative elections, as well as depressed about the controversy over the loan. However, a number of people, among them Dominique Labarrière, have researched this subject and concluded that he was assassinated: there are many question marks surrounding the issue.