Avi Assouly

Avi Assouly (5 June 1950 – 14 February 2025) was a French-Israeli politician of the Socialist Party (PS).^[1]

Avi Assouly
Assouly in 2012
Deputy of the French National Assembly for Bouches-du-Rhône's 5th constituency
In office 22 July 2012 – 2 May 2014
Preceded by	Marie-Arlette Carlotti
Succeeded by	Marie-Arlette Carlotti
Personal details
Born	(1950-06-05)5 June 1950 Aïn El Arbaa, French Algeria
Died	14 February 2025(2025-02-14) (aged 74) Marseille, France
Political party	PS
Occupation	Journalist

Life and career

Born in Aïn El Arbaa, in Colonial Algeria on 5 June 1950, Assouly played football for Racing Besançon of Division 2.^[2] He then joined the Israeli Defense Forces and fought in the Yom Kippur War.^[3] He then worked for Israeli airline El Al in Paris, New York City, and Marseille.^[4]

Assouly became a sports journalist in 1984 for the magazine Crampons. He then joined Fun Radio, NRJ, and Red Star [fr]. In 1992, France Bleu Provence recruited him to commentate on Olympique de Marseille matches. On 5 May 1992, he was seriously injured in the Stade Armand-Cesari disaster.^[5][6][7] During this time, he also worked as a contributor for M6, La Chaîne Marseille [fr], OM TV, Le Soir, The Sun, and Reuters.^[8] During the 2006–07 season, he prematurely announced the victory of Olympique de Marseille in a match against Mladá Boleslav, though the Czech club went on to win 4–2.^[9]

In January 2010, Assouly joined Michel Vauzelle as a PS candidate in the 2010 French regional elections despite not being a member of the party himself. He was elected to the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur on the party list. In 2012, he was the substitute for Marie-Arlette Carlotti, who was elected to Bouches-du-Rhône's 5th constituency, defeating Renaud Muselier, before joining the Ayrault Cabinet II [fr].^[10] He held the seat until 2 May 2014, when Carlotti returned to her seat.^[11] In 2022, he ran in Bouches-du-Rhône's 2nd constituency under the Ecology at the Centre, earning just 713 first round votes.^[12]

Assouly died in Marseille on 14 February 2025, at the age of 74.^[13]

Awards

• Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite (1997)^[14]
• Bronze Medal of Youth, Sports and Community Involvement [fr] (1999)
• Honour Medal for Work Service [fr]