Personal Life
Villiers was born in Boulogne in the département of Vendée, France, the second of five children and first son of Jacques Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born Meurthe-et-Moselle, Nancy, 14 November 1913) and wife Edwige d' Arexy (born Loire Atlantique, Nantes, 1 July 1925). His paternal grandfather, Louis Le Jolis de Villiers, born at Brucheville on 17 October 1874, was killed in action in World War I at Saint-Paul-en-Forêt on 10 September 1914, and married on 24 October 1904 Jeanne de Saintignon (Auverre, 27 July 1880 – 25 August 1959), by whom he had five children, the youngest of whom was Philippe's father Jacques.
He received a Master's Degree in Law in 1971, graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 1973, and graduated from the National School of Administration in 1978. After university, Villiers became a successful entrepreneur. He created Puy du Fou, one of the most visited theme parks in France, as a living showcase for its history. The theme park includes a replica medieval city with the 'Gallo-Roman Stadium', a coliseum designed by Villiers to stoke patriotic feeling by recreating Gallic rebellions against Imperial Rome.
He is a French aristocrat and a descendant of diplomat and historian Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur and Minister and Regent Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. As of 2007 he is a Member of the European Parliament (Independence/Democracy Group). He is 1.85 meters tall.
He is married to Dominique du Buor de Villeneuve, born at Valenciennes on 4 October 1950, and has seven children: Caroline (born Montaigu, 12 August 1976), Guillaume (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 14 December 1977), Nicolas (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 10 September 1979), Marie (born Nantes, 5 October 1981), Laurent (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 8 April 1984), Bérengère (born La Roche-sur-Yon, 1 October 1988) and Blanche (born Cholet, 21 June 1993).
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