Germaine Coty

Germaine Coty
Coty in 1954
Spouse of the President of France
In office
16 January 1954 – 12 November 1955
PresidentRené Coty
Preceded byMichelle Auriol
Succeeded byYvonne de Gaulle (1959)
Personal details
BornGermaine Alice Corblet
(1887-04-09)9 April 1887
Died12 November 1955(1955-11-12) (aged 68)
Spouse
(m. 1905)
Children2

Germaine Alice Coty (French pronunciation: [ʒɛʁmɛn kɔti]; née Corblet; 9 April 1887 – 12 November 1955) was the daughter of a Normandy ship owner who became the wife of the French lawyer-politician René Coty. When she died, slightly less than 22 months after her husband became president of France, she became the first wife of a French president to die while her husband was still in office. By that time she had become popular with the French public "for her simplicity and kindness: hostile commentators who had mocked her when she moved into the presidential "Élysée Palace" quickly ceased their mockery in response to vehement public protests".