The Mayor Who Looted the City - Opera de Nice
Jacques Medecin ruled Nice as mayor for 24 years until 1990, when, facing corruption inquiries, he fled to Uruguay; extradited in 1994, he was convicted in the mid-1990s of breach of trust for diverting public money, including funds of the Nice-Opera association tied to this opera house, and of passive corruption, and he died in exile in 1998.
About this place
The ornate Opera de Nice, tucked at the edge of the old town, is a fitting final stop, because its name is bound up with the downfall of the most powerful man this city ever produced. Jacques Medecin was mayor of Nice from 1966 to 1990, a near-royal figure who inherited the office from his father and ran the city for almost a quarter of a century. Behind the showmanship, investigators found a web of corruption. Among the cases against him was the diversion of money from the Nice-Opera association, funds linked to this very institution, along with charges of taking kickbacks. In 1990, as the inquiries closed in, Medecin fled France and settled in Punta del Este in Uruguay. He was extradited back to France in 1994, and in the mid-1990s convicted of breach of trust and misuse of funds in the Nice-Opera affair and, separately, of passive corruption, serving prison time and losing his civic rights. He never returned to power and died in Uruguay in 1998.
Key facts
- 24 years — How long Jacques Medecin served as mayor of Nice, from 1966 to 1990.
- 1990 year — The year he fled France for Uruguay as corruption inquiries closed in.
- 1994 year — The year he was extradited from Uruguay to face justice in France.
📍 Rue Saint-François de Paule 4, 06300, Nice