--- ---  # Meet France’s New First Lady, Brigitte Macron  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney May 8, 2017 2:40 PM UTC  PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 7: Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Macron celebrate his presidential election victory at Le Louvre on May 7, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) PARIS, FRANCE - MAY 7: Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Macron celebrate his presidential election victory at Le Louvre on May 7, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)Jean Catuffe—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney May 8, 2017 2:40 PM UTC Brigitte Macron, 64, (née [Trogneux](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/05/03/emmanuel-macron-39-brigitte-64-who-is-the-older-woman-that-could-become-frances-first-lady/#37fedb454419)) has been a strong presence — and point of fascination — throughout her husband [Emmanuel Macron](http://time.com/4718192/emmanuel-macron-france-president-election-race-interview/?iid=sr-link2)‘s presidential campaign. Macron, 39, and his advisers have repeatedly said that his wife is instrumental to his success. When Macron [won](http://time.com/4751924/french-election-macron-le-pen-france/?iid=sr-link1) the first round of France’s presidential election this year, the first person he [thanked](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/05/03/emmanuel-macron-39-brigitte-64-who-is-the-older-woman-that-could-become-frances-first-lady/#1e6d58e04419) was his wife of ten years, while the crowd chanted her name. “To Brigitte, always present and even more, without whom I wouldn’t be who I am,” Macron said, according to [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/05/03/emmanuel-macron-39-brigitte-64-who-is-the-older-woman-that-could-become-frances-first-lady/#1e6d58e04419). “Emmanuel Macron wouldn’t have been able to embark on this adventure without her,” Marc Ferracci, one of Macron’s campaign advisers, told [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-07/the-singular-woman-behind-france-s-front-runner). “Her presence is essential for him.” Now that Macron is [France’s new president](http://time.com/4770306/macron-le-pen-election-transition/?xid=homepage), here are four things to know about France’s new first lady: **She’ll be an active first lady** Although they are often [public figures](http://www.hellomagazine.com/tags/carla-bruni-sarkozy/), French first ladies don’t [traditionally](http://www.newsday.com/news/world/brigitte-macron-would-be-french-first-lady-an-unusual-presence-in-campaign-1.13560582) take on formal or official roles as first ladies do in the United States, but Macron has expressed an interest in changing that. He said that he would formalize the role of first lady and have his wife decide what the duties should be, according to the [Associated Press](http://www.newsday.com/news/world/brigitte-macron-would-be-french-first-lady-an-unusual-presence-in-campaign-1.13560582). “She is not going to be behind or hidden or become a tweet,” Macron said, according to [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2017/05/03/emmanuel-macron-39-brigitte-64-who-is-the-older-woman-that-could-become-frances-first-lady/#4d7c940e4419). “She will be next to me because she has always been next to me.” **She helped Macron achieve success** Macron continued to teach even as her husband entered the political scene in 2014 when he was appointed [economy minister](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/07/frances-emmanuel-macron-launches-political-movement) in the Socialist government. But she quit her job in 2015 to help him, according to [the ](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful)[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful). She began to attend meetings, organize dinners to help him network and became a “fixture” at the ministry. **She comes from an affluent background** Macron was born to a family that had found [success](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful) with a chocolate empire, according to the[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful)_._ She began her career in the chamber of commerce in Pas-de-Calais, before becoming a teacher at a private Jesuit school in Amiens, France. She [married](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/emmanuel-macron-wife-brigitte-trogneux-french-election-president-25-years-older-age-gap-married-a7699786.html) her first husband, Andre-Louis Auzière, a banker, when she was 20, and now has three children and seven grandchildren. **They met when he was a student and she was a teacher** While working at a [Jesuit school](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/meet-brigitte-macron-woman-become-frances-thoroughly-modern/) in Amiens, Brigitte oversaw the school’s drama department. That’s where she met the 15-year-old Macron, who was in the [same class](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful) as her middle daughter. The two reportedly developed a close relationship, but Macron’s parents didn’t [approve](http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/europe/france-candidate-macron-married-his-teacher/) so they sent him to Paris to [finish his studies](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/28/brigitte-macron-ever-present-beside-frances-presidential-hopeful). The two eventually reunited about a decade later and [wed](https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-07/the-singular-woman-behind-france-s-front-runner) in 2007. Since Macron entered the public eye, the relationship has been scrutinized and she’s been subjected to sexist criticism, including being [labelled](http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/emmanuel-macron-wife) a “cougar.” But feminists have defended the union, arguing that it’s [refreshing](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/french-women-see-revenge-in-macrons-marriage-to-an-older-woman/2017/05/03/3b21fc1a-2f47-11e7-9dec-764dc781686f%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.c0720bb97e7c) to see a man with an older, rather than a younger, woman. Others have [noted](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/05/04/shes-64-hes-39-and-could-frances-next-president/310580001/) that the couple are nearly the same age difference as the President Donald Trump and First Lady [Melania Trump](http://motto.time.com/4716391/melania-trump-the-time-for-empowering-women-around-the-world-is-now/). “Nobody would call it unusual if the age difference was reversed,” Macron has said, according to [_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-macron-book-idUSKBN17E21X)_._ “People find it difficult to accept something that is sincere and unique.” Brigitte Macron, Emmanuel Macron's Wife and French First Lady ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4765702/brigitte-trogneux-macron-france-new-first-lady/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4765702/brigitte-trogneux-macron-france-new-first-lady/"},"headline":"Meet France’s New First Lady, Brigitte Macron","datePublished":"2017-05-08T14:40:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:33.370Z","description":"Emmanuel Macron credits his wife with his success","url":"https://time.com/4765702/brigitte-trogneux-macron-france-new-first-lady/","keywords":["motto","Emmanuel Macron"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d5b8279bfff95ee/6988cc5b0a4a2203539ce115/brigitte-macron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d5b8279bfff95ee/6988cc5b0a4a2203539ce115/brigitte-macron.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Emmanuel Macron Celebrates His Presidential Election Victory At Le Louvre In Paris","caption":"Emmanuel Macron Celebrates His Presidential Election Victory At Le Louvre In Paris","creditText":"Jean Catuffe—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4765702/brigitte-trogneux-macron-france-new-first-lady/","name":"Meet France’s New First Lady, Brigitte Macron"}}]}] ```