Once called the 'most hated man in France', Le Pen maintained that his ideas were simply 'ahead of their time'

Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Marine Le Pen and the defining figure of France’s postwar far-right movement, has died at the age of 96, according to French network BFMTV.

For years, the far-right National Rally tried to distance itself from Mr. Le Pen’s racist and antisemitic remarks. But after his death Tuesday, it hailed him as a visionary.

The church Notre-Dame du Val de Grace, in Paris, has been the scene of the tribute with a religious ceremony to the founder of the French National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last Tuesday at the age of 96.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s main far-right party and a polarizing figure in French politics, is being buried in a private family ceremony in his hometown of La Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany.

By founding the National Front in 1972 — which has since been rebranded and is led by his daughter Marine Le Pen — Jean-Marie Le Pen ushered in a new brand of extreme-right politics. His legacy remains embedded in some of today’s dominant political parties.

JEAN-Marie Le Pen, the nationalist founder of the French far-right National Front party, has died aged 96. Le Pen, who had been in a care facility for several weeks, died at midday Tuesday

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French far-right nationalist party formerly known as the National Front and a controversial force in the country's political life for decades, has died aged 96. President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday issued a terse acknowledgement of Le Pen's significant role in France's post-war society - but withheld any further assessment of his legacy.