Former french prime minister dominique de villepin

Dominique de Villepin (born ) became prime minister of France during a cabinet reshuffle by French president Jacques Chirac in the spring of

Villepin was a somewhat surprising choice for the job, partly because he had never held any elected office, but his political career had been closely linked with that of Chirac's during the preceding decade.

Villepin achieved a measure of international renown during a stint as France's foreign minister in early , when he challenged U.S. plans to invade Iraq at a United Nations forum. He is also the author of several volumes of poetry and a biography of Napoleon Bonaparte.

"It is very rare to meet someone like him," said Chirac of his protégé, according to Times of London correspondent Charles Bremner, "who is at one and the same time a poet and a very good commando leader."

Villepin hails from a well-connected family whose roots are in the département, or province, of Yonne.

He was born Dominique Marie François R