Marie de Hennezel

Marie de Hennezel (, Marie Gaultier de la Ferrière; born August 5, 1946) is a French psychologist, psychotherapist and writer. She is known for her commitment to improving conditions at the end of life. Her books, her two reports to the government, and her speeches on the subject have contributed to the evolution of the image of aging and old age in society. Marie Gaultier de la Ferrière was born in Lyon, August 5, 1946. She is an alumnus of the educational institution of Maison d'éducation de la Légion d'honneur, is a graduate of the Institute of Intercultural Management and Communication (ISIT) (1966), and holds a Master's degree in English from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris III. After teaching English, she returned to school to become a clinical psychologist. She obtained a Diploma of Higher Specialized Studies (DESS) in clinical psychology at Paris-Sorbonne University and then a Master of Advanced Studies in psychoanalysis at Paris Diderot University in 1975. From 1975 to 1984, she worked as a clinical psychologist in several social welfare offices and at the Family Planning, at the time of the Veil Act. Then from 1984 to 1986, she worked as a clinical psychologist in a psychiatric department at the Villejuif Regional Hospital. Through her brother Jacques de la Ferrière, then chief of protocol at the Élysée Palace, she met President François Mitterrand in November 1984. This was followed by meetings with Mitterrand during the last twelve years of his life until January 1996. On the 20th anniversary of his death, Hennezel published her book, Croire aux forces de l’esprit (Believing in the Forces of the Spirit), which outlines his little-known inner personality. In 1987, she joined the first palliative care unit created in France, at the International Hospital of the University of Paris, by Mitterrand. From 1992, she divided her time between this unit and an HIV/AIDS care unit at the Hôpital Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Secours.