Jospin was prime minister from 1997 to 2002, during a complicated period when the left had a majority in parliament while conservative Jacques Chirac was president. He was, among other things, responsible for introducing a 35-hour workweek in France.
However, when he tried to challenge Chirac in the 2002 presidential election, he suffered a major setback: on election day he was overtaken by far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen and did not advance to the runoff.
Jospin died at home on Sunday, his family told the AFP news agency.
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