Lionel Jospin died on March 23 at the age of 88. The former Prime Minister and figure of the Socialist Party, was the father of two children: Hugo and Eva. His daughter is also recognized in her artistic field.
The French left is in mourning this Monday, March 23, 2026: the former socialist Prime Minister and unsuccessful presidential candidate, Lionel Jospin, is dead. He leaves behind two children. His daughter, although quite discreet, is not unknown…
Lionel Jospin, father of Eva Jospin: “What I inherited from him“
A visual artist dubbed by her peers, Eva Jospin was born in 1975, two years after her older brother Hugo. Both were born from the union of Lionel Jospin with his first wife, Élisabeth Dannenmuller. Now aged 51, the politician’s daughter has made a name for herself in her field, far from politics. Over time, the woman whose work revolves around the forest and its variations has become an essential figure in contemporary art. So much so that she ended up being elected to the Academy of Fine Arts in December 2024.
An artist of cardboard in all its forms, Eva Jospin has exhibited in several cultural highlights around the world, starting with the Grand Palais in Paris and the Villa Medici in Rome. Today, she works from France. She has a workshop of more than 400m2 in Pantin, in the Paris region. “What I inherited from him is undoubtedly a certain rigor, a capacity for work and demands. My father is a very structured person, and I believe that my way of approaching my cardboard forests, with this obsessive meticulousness, comes a little from there“, she confided to Madame Figaro in 2021.
Was Lionel Jospin a good father? His daughter responds: “I was lucky that he…”
On the private side, Eva Jopsin was married to the sculptor Pierre Thoretton with whom she had two children. Then she started her life again with the Italian director Adriano Valerio with whom she also had a son. Although she has never been involved in politics, she recently spoke out about Paris City Hall by publicly supporting Emmanuel Grégoire, who has since become mayor of the capital.
His older brother, Hugo Jospin, is much more discreet. Composer of music for films and documentaries, he has chosen to stay far from the cameras. According to Lionel Jospin’s daughter, both were pampered by their illustrious father. “I was lucky that he loved me, looked at me and took care of me”she declared in the columns of World in 2023 by describing a present and attentive father.
“To be constantly referred to as ‘the daughter of…’ can be complicated if, in the intimate sphere, nothing happens. But that’s not the case. (…) And I’ve spent my entire career without that interfering”she added, affirming to have always been supported by Lionel Jospin. “I had a period where I didn’t want anyone to make the connection. Not out of disenchantment, but out of a need to exist on my own. To bear this name was to be looked at through the prism of politics, while my world is that of the imagination“, she also said in 2015 to Release.
