Michelle De Villiers Popular Books
Michelle De Villiers Biography & Facts
Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers (French: [filip də vilje]; born 25 March 1949), is a French entrepreneur, politician and novelist. He is the founder of the Puy du Fou theme park in Vendée, which is centred around the history of France. Appointed Secretary of State for Culture in 1986 by President François Mitterrand, de Villiers entered the National Assembly the following year and the European Parliament in 1994. After leaving the Republican Party (PR) to found the Movement for France (MPF), he was its nominee in the 1995 and 2007 presidential elections. He received 4.74% of the vote the first time, placing seventh; he won 2.23% of the vote twelve years later, putting him in sixth place. De Villiers has been internationally notable for his criticism of mass immigration and Islam in France, as well as his ardent support of the French way of life. His brother, General Pierre de Villiers, served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 2014 to 2017. Personal life De Villiers was born in Boulogne in the department of Vendée, Western France, the second of five children and eldest son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born in Nancy, 14 November 1913) and his wife Edwige d'Arexy (born in Nantes, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville on 17 October 1874, was killed in action in World War I at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt on 10 September 1914. On 24 October 1904, he had married Jeanne de Saintignon (27 July 1880 – 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father, Jacques. De Villiers received a master's degree in Law in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973 and from the École nationale d'administration in 1978. After his studies, De Villiers became a successful entrepreneur. He created the Puy du Fou, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history. The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a colosseum designed by De Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome. The Puy du Fou park received awards from the Themed Entertainment Association in 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2019. He is a French aristocrat and a descendant of diplomat and historian Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur and Minister and Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. As of 2007 he is a Member of the European Parliament (Independence/Democracy Group). He is 1.85 meters tall. He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born in Valenciennes on 4 October 1950 and has seven children: Caroline (born in Montaigu, 12 August 1976), Guillaume (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 14 December 1977), Nicolas (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 10 September 1979), Marie (born in Nantes, 5 October 1981), Laurent (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 8 April 1984), Bérengère (born in La Roche-sur-Yon, 1 October 1988) and Blanche (born in Cholet, 21 June 1993). Career 1995 presidential bid From 1976 to 1978, De Villiers served as a senior civil servant in the Chirac administration. In 1981, he resigned his post as subprefect because he did not want to serve the government of the Socialist President François Mitterrand. In 1986 and 1987, he briefly served as Secretary of State for Culture (Secrétaire d'État auprès du Ministre de la Culture) in the second government of Jacques Chirac, under Minister François Léotard. His appointment was initially viewed badly by Libération and several other press agencies, which referred to his "ambiguous personality". However, Villiers supported Leotard's mixed, non-ideological policy towards French culture. In 1987, he was elected into local office as a member in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Republican Party. He became a rising star within the Union for French Democracy. During the public debate over the Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union, in 1992, he achieved lasting prominence in the media as an anti-Treaty activist. This set him apart from most prominent members of the mainstream political right. The French people narrowly ratified the Treaty in September 1992. De Villiers led an anti-European integration list in 1994 receiving about 12 percent of the votes, placing it in third place behind the Gaullists and the Socialists. Villiers centered the campaign on opposition to the European Union along with a call to eliminate corruption in government. In November 1994, Villers left the Republican Party to form Movement for France. He ran for President of France in 1995 and received about 5 percent of the vote. 2007 presidential bid Once a member of the Union for French Democracy, he then led the Movement for France, which enjoyed some success in elections for the European Parliament. The party's share of the vote declined in the 2004 European Parliament election. Nevertheless, Villiers and two other members of his party were elected. De Villiers ran for the French presidency in 2007, and based his campaign on his opposition to what he sees as the rampant Islamisation of France. In May 2006, polls showed that he had garnered the support of about 4% of the electorate, almost twice as high as he actually polled in the first round of the presidential election. An "Ifop-Paris-Match" poll conducted on 12 October 2006 gave him his highest ever popularity rating, with 37% saying they "have an excellent or good opinion" of Villiers, and 28% saying they could vote for him in 2007. This was not borne out in the results of the first round of voting, with him receiving less than 3% of the popular vote. Following the first round of the 2007 presidential election, he called on voters to vote for Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate Nicolas Sarkozy to counter the Socialist Party's candidate Ségolène Royal and the left. Villiers and Konstantin Malofeev are planning to build two Russian history related theme parks: one in Moscow and one in Yalta (Crimea); this is in spite of Malofeev being added to the European Union list of people and organizations sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War (Malofeev is suspected of funding the pro-Russian rebels in Donbas during the Russo-Ukrainian War). In August 2014 Villiers travelled to Crimea to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin; while there, he defended the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea by saying the Crimean park will "promote the history of Crimea as part of the long history of Russia". He also stated there "I would gladly swap Hollande and Sarkozy for Putin". Political positions Criticism of Islam De Villiers is known for his criticism of Islam in France. He has stated, "I am the only politician who tells the French the truth about the Islamisation of France" and, "I do not think Islam is compatible with the French Republic". He advocates ending all construction of mosques, banning all Islamist organisations suspected of links to terrorism, and expelling extremist indivi.... Discover the Michelle De Villiers popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Michelle De Villiers books.
Best Seller Michelle De Villiers Books of 2024
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Pro Rata
Michelle de VilliersWhat a piece of work 2014 turned out to be! It included the tiptoeing pilcrowpus of returning to my roots (vegan)… {We learn by trial and error where to place our personal quantum ...
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Jejune Jousting
Michelle de VilliersJejune Jousting is Book 6 in the Apropos: Epic Poetry series. As with its predecessors it was crafted with freshlyharvested daily 'wordsofthe day' generously supplied by several on...
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Little Red Brittle Star
Michelle de VilliersOphi wants to be a real star: a space star. The problem is, he is an ittybitty brittle sea star and not a blazing shooting star. Even though echinoderms were known as asteroids lon...
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Matthew James, Animal Trainer
Michelle de VilliersMatthew James is a beastwhisperer. He has a special talent to tame the wild animals that invade his home every day. All he needs are his swimming goggles, a feather duster and the ...
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Chortle and Snort
Michelle de VilliersA short book of ink and watercolour comics; just because words and pictures are fun and open to your personal interpretation as long as it makes you smile!
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Athwart
Michelle de VilliersFly in, fly out! 2015 flew by in a frenzy. Standing out from the crowd, as well as fitting into it, became simultaneously more difficult for all. I visited Britain, Ireland and Sco...
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Viral Verse
Michelle de VilliersA selection of laissezfaire postparnassian poetry crafted at the crack of dawn. Inspiration comes from online dictionaries' freshly harvested wordsoftheday. A poem m...
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Daddy Longlegs
Michelle de VilliersScrawny daddy longlegs Opi has a clever plan to beat his buddy Arach at winning a special lady longleg's friendship... until he discovers that she is a young lady who would like to...
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The e-Incunabulum of Comical Inspiration
Michelle de VilliersDiverting, anecdotal and tongueincheek: A collection of wacky cartoon doodles reflecting on the zeitgeist of 2011.
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GrimPoWriMo
Michelle de VilliersA poetry anthology of a laissezfaire postParnassian poetaster in the time of Covid19, during the month of April 2020. Coordinating arms, fins and colour without ink, in isolation t...
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Mary Scary
Michelle de VilliersMeet madam Mary Scary, the greediest girl since the Enormous Crocodile left town.A satirical crossgenre story for ebook verme of all ages.
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Maladroit
Michelle de VilliersOh, gauche! Wasn't 2017 just too maladroit for words? Each in their own corner, we ran around the web, trying to make sense of the information overload. Worriedly, the royal we wob...
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Plucky Pheasantries
Michelle de VilliersA slim bundle of thirty poems written in thirty days during the month of April 2019 for NaGloPoWriMo or national/global poetry writing month. Free range words for fun. They might c...
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Albeit
Michelle de VilliersThe shape of things in a noncontextual 2018, chronological and illustrated. Full of art and cartoons! Visits to Finland, Botswana, RSA, Australia, UK, Greece, Chile, Vancouver and ...
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Galore
Michelle de VilliersA personal catalogue of the year that was 2016 in 328 cartoons that run from January to December. Timeless entertainment for the intrepid puzzlesolver or a check to verify your g...
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The Sunflower That Roared
Michelle de VilliersSarah has a very sunny nature. That is why her mother calls her her little sunflower. But even sunflowers get grumpy when no one listens to them...A picture book to read with your ...
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Mangoes, Gloves and Coconuts
Michelle de VilliersMegan's life is about to change. She'll be going to school soon for the first time. And there's a sibling on the way. So many big changes make Megan anxious. A special getaway to M...
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Quack-A-Doodle-Baa
Michelle de VilliersPierre's best friends in the whole world are Babaa, Chanticleer and Jemima. However, Christmas time is a dangerous time for farm animals. Pierre has to come up with a plan to save ...
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Inter alia
Michelle de Villiers2012 was the Year of the Water Hawthornintheside Stew. The eponymous Aponogeton distachyos, or Capepondweed, is an aquatic flowering plant native to South Africa. Its fragrant flow...
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Playing with Fire
Michelle de VilliersThis story is based on the fascination both children and moths seem to share for fire. It is a story within a story, the inner conflict being that of a craving for glory in tandem ...
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The Star Bear Odyssey
Michelle de VilliersA science fiction fable with a touch of Poe and a twist of Dahl. A teeny water bear sits at play on her tiny meteor when another traveller crashlands on her rocky home. And so unfo...
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The Whistle Thorn Tree
Michelle de VilliersThere is a small tree in Africa with a big secret. How do you make friends when you have sharp, pointy thorns? Find out in this heartwarming illustrated story.From advance copy rev...
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Ad Hoc
Michelle de Villiers2013 was the Year of the Blobfishbrainwoman. (Unalas) thoughts that had roamed undisturbed in the überbenthic subconscious surfaced! A visual memoir of sketches, micropoetry and ra...
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Rib-Ticklers
Michelle de VilliersCartoons portraying some topical issues in a quizzical , whimsical way. It was the dawn of the ebook, the World Soccer Cup took place and almost everyone adopted an avatar.
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Hopefully
Michelle de VilliersIt is to be hoped that both humour and doodles will remain stalwart helpmeets to navigating the past, the present, and the future. Just as the axion might be the tiniest warrior in...
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Bumbershoot
Michelle de VilliersTara Brown's goldfish has died. A picture story about a small heartbreak.When Tara's goldfish dies, she is very sad. She mopes and grieves. A little bird tells her to get a bumbers...