Since 2018 and the violent charge launched by Eric Zemmour on his first name and his origins on the set of Thierry Ardisson, Hapsatou Sy seems to be living a nightmare. As the polemicist releases a new book on his vision of the nation, France has not said its last word, the columnist is cited to support what could be a campaign promise if Eric Zemmour runs for president: to integrate into French society, you must have a French first name and therefore ban first names that sound foreign. Everyone will be given the right to question the validity, relevance or even the urgency of such a measure. For Hapsatou Sy, it is an attack “on my identity and my name, but also on my background and my history”.
This is the message she sent, on Twitter, to its “old management and to those who will recognize themselves”. It notified several members of the management of the Canal + group, including Vincent Bolloré, as well as media personalities: Cyril Hanouna, Christine Kelly, Raquel Garrido, Natacha Polony, Franz-Olivier Giesbert and Gilles-William Goldnadel. And to conclude, three political figures: the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Interior, in charge of Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa and the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.
Guilty silence
Hapsatou Sy criticizes the “silence” of “the entire political class which was outraged when this gentleman was pursued in the street”. The businesswoman explains coming out “of 6 months of illness, touched by this disease which I thought stinking but painless” and denounces the “horrors” that she receives “every day” since “these debates on the first names” were relaunched by Éric Zemmour.
Hapsatou Sy also wonders “where are the rebels who submitted that day”, in reference to Raquel Garrido who was present on the set of Thierry Ardisson in 2018, just like “the directors of Marianne”, magazine directed by Natacha Polony, “who claim that freedom of speech and debate are essential even when they attack and irreversibly damage.” She also denounces the attempts to “put her away” and wonders “where are the alleged defenders of freedom of expression when mine is taken away from me.”
Inaccuracies
Before Hapsatou Sy in 2018 and then in his 2021 book, Eric Zemmour had already attacked, in 2016, the former Minister of Justice Rachida Dati for having called his daughter Zohra. Surprisingly, we have heard much less comment on the choice of the Bruni-Sarkozy couple who named his daughter Giulia.
Finally, the “law of Bonaparte”, to which the polemicist regularly refers to justify his idea of a certain France which seemed better before in his eyes, makes no mention of the obligation to give “a Christian first name” to his. child. The law of 1803 (law of 11 germinal of the year XI) required to give “names in use in the various calendars and those of known figures of ancient history”. There were indeed several calendars, including the Republican which supplanted the Gregorian from 1793 to 1806.
And while Eric Zemmour deplores that “the socialists” “abolished” this law in 1993, again, this is incorrect. The law has already been widely modified by Charles de Gaulle in 1966, who specifies that “in addition to the first names normally admissible within the strict limits of the law of germinal”, are accepted “certain first names taken from mythology, certain first names specific to local idioms of the national territory, some foreign first names (such: Ivan, Nadine, Manfred, James, etc.), (…) old surnames (such: Gonzague, Régis, Xavier, Chantal, etc.) ”. In addition, it is stated that “the choice of first names belongs to the parents and that, as far as possible, account should be taken of the wishes they may have expressed”.
The government of Pierre Bérégovoy, under the presidency of François Mitterrand, again relaxed this circular in 1993, simply indicating that “the interests of the child” must be taken into account and officially repealing the law of 11 Germinal de l year XI, which had already not been in force for a long time.