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.

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.

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

Le Pen was convicted numerous times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence. But the nativist ideas that propelled his popularity remain ascendant in today's France and beyond.

Hundreds of people gathered at Place de la Republique in Paris in celebratory mood on January 7, after the death was announced of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former leader of the far-right National Front,

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.

Over 1,000 people attended a memorial ceremony Thursday in central Paris for the founder of France’s main far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last week at the age of 96.The “mass for the repose of the soul” at Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce church took place under tight security,

Controversy was Le Pen's constant companion: accusations of racism and antisemitism dogged the National Front from when he co-founded the party.

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.

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.