François Patriat, a veterinarian and former French agriculture minister who represented Côte-d’Or in the Senate, died Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at 83 from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident, Le Dauphiné Libéré reported. He was found unresponsive beside his bicycle in Pouilly-en-Auxois after a ride on July 17. Emergency workers took him to Dijon University Hospital, and he was later declared brain dead.
The circumstances of the accident remained unknown, and an investigation had been opened. An earlier report said the bicycle showed no apparent sign of an impact or collision.
Patriat served in Lionel Jospin’s government as secretary of state for Commerce and Crafts and later as agriculture minister. He was elected to the Senate for Côte-d’Or in 2008 and reelected in 2014 and 2020.
Before the 2017 presidential election, Patriat was among the first Socialist elected officials to join Emmanuel Macron. He later became president of the Rassemblement des démocrates, progressistes et indépendants, or RDPI, the Senate’s macronist group.
In December 2021, he decided not to use the group’s allotted Senate time for an abortion-rights bill, preferring a proposal on school bullying. He announced in June 2026 that he would not seek reelection that September. By then, his political career had lasted more than 50 years.
