Over 1,000 people attended a memorial ceremony 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.

A Holocaust denier and unrepentant extremist on race and immigration, the far-right politician has died at 96.

He ran unsuccessfully for the French presidency five times, riding waves of discontent and xenophobia as the leader of the National Front party.

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.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French far-right political party the National Front, has died aged 96, a senior party official has announced.

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.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the French far-right nationalist party formerly known as the National Front, was buried on Saturday. Le Pen died on Tuesday at the age of 96. Around 100 police officers were on duty for the funeral in La Trinité-sur-Mer in Brittany.

The elder Le Pen is dead, but far-right populists across the world still echo his mix of violent rhetoric, brazen lies, and outreach to mainstream conservatives.

The private funeral of Jean-Marie Le Pen has taken place amid heightened security, after the polarising post-war French party leader died aged 96 on Tuesday.