Alexandre Léontieff
| Alexandre Léontieff | |
|---|---|
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| 3rd President of French Polynesia | |
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In office December 8, 1987 – April 4, 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Jacques Teuira |
| Succeeded by | Gaston Flosse |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 20, 1948 Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia |
| Died | March 2, 2009 (Aged 60) Tahiti, French Polynesia |
Alexandre Léontieff (October 20, 1948 – March 2, 2009) was the President of French Polynesia from 1987 to 1991.
Léontieff was born on October 20, 1948, at Teahupo'o, Tahiti, near the world famous surfing location. He obtained a degree in economics from the University of Rennes in 1970.
Léontieff was of Russian ancestry and the brother of French Polynesian politician Boris Léontieff, a one time cabinet minister in the government of Gaston Flosse and former mayor of Arue, French Polynesia. Boris Léontieff later became the leader of his own political party, Fetia Api. He is believed to have been killed in a small plane crash in May 2002 while on a political campaign trip in the Tuamotu Archipelago. The plane's wreckage and passengers have never been found. Boris Léontieff was 47 years old at the time of his death.
Léontieff was originally a protege of Gaston Flosse in the Tahoera'a Huiraatira political party during the 1980s. Flosse's Tahoera'a Huiraatira endorsed Léontieff's election as one of French Polynesia's two deputies in the National Assembly of France in 1986. Léontieff held the seat in the National Assembly until 1993, despite a later rift with Flosse and the Tahoera'a Huiraatira.
Flosse became French Polynesia's first president from 1984 until 1987. In February 1987, Flosse resigned from the presidency in order to become the first, and only, French state secretary in charge of Pacific affairs. However, Léontieff was passed over as Flosse's handpicked successor in favor of Jacques Teuira, who became French Polynesia's second president.
Léontieff responded by forming a majority coalition in the Assembly of French Polynesia with others politicians opposed to Flosse and Teuira. Léontieff's coalition filed a censure motion against Teuira, which was adopted by the Assembly. The move forced Flosse's handpicked successor, Jacques Teuira, to resign as President of French Polynesia in December 1987.
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