section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Bayrou was born on 25 May 1951 in Bordères, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a village located between Pau and Lourdes. He is the son of farmer Calixte Bayrou (1909–1974), MRP mayor of Bordères from 1947 to 1953, and Emma Sarthou (1917–2009). Bayrou descends from an ancestry of primarily Occitans except from his maternal grandmother's side which is Irish.
  
  When Bayrou was in his youth, he developed a stutter which led to him attending speech therapy for seven years. He first went to secondary school in Pau, before transferring to Bordeaux. He studied literature at university, and at the age of 23, sat the " agrégation ", the highest qualifying level for teachers in senior high schools and preparatory classes in France. Around the same time, his father was killed in a tractor accident.
  
  Bayrou married Élisabeth Perlant, also known as "Babette", in 1971. He and Perlant have five children, Hélène, Marie, Dominique, Calixte and Agnès. The children were raised on the farm where Bayrou was born and where Bayrou currently lives with Perlant.
  
  Prior to embarking on his political career, Bayrou taught history in Béarn in the French Pyrenees. He has written several books on politics and history, including one on King Henry IV of France. Bayrou's hobby is raising horses. He is a practising Roman Catholic, but strongly supports France's system of secularism (French: laïcité).
  
  Bayrou was born on 25 May 1951 in Bordères, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a village located between Pau and Lourdes. He is the son of farmer Calixte Bayrou (1909–1974), MRP mayor of Bordères from 1947 to 1953, and Emma Sarthou (1917–2009). Bayrou descends from an ancestry of primarily Occitans except from his maternal grandmother's side which is Irish.
  
  When Bayrou was in his youth, he developed a stutter which led to him attending speech therapy for seven years. He first went to secondary school in Pau, before transferring to Bordeaux. He studied literature at university, and at the age of 23, sat the " agrégation ", the highest qualifying level for teachers in senior high schools and preparatory classes in France. Around the same time, his father was killed in a tractor accident.
  
  Bayrou married Élisabeth Perlant, also known as "Babette", in 1971. He and Perlant have five children, Hélène, Marie, Dominique, Calixte and Agnès. The children were raised on the farm where Bayrou was born and where Bayrou currently lives with Perlant.
  
  Prior to embarking on his political career, Bayrou taught history in Béarn in the French Pyrenees. He has written several books on politics and history, including one on King Henry IV of France. Bayrou's hobby is raising horses. He is a practising Roman Catholic, but strongly supports France's system of secularism (French: laïcité).
  
  Bayrou was born on 25 May 1951 in Bordères, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a village located between Pau and Lourdes. He is the son of farmer Calixte Bayrou (1909–1974), MRP mayor of Bordères from 1947 to 1953, and Emma Sarthou (1917–2009). Bayrou descends from an ancestry of primarily Occitans except from his maternal grandmother's side which is Irish.
  
  When Bayrou was in his youth, he developed a stutter which led to him attending speech therapy for seven years. He first went to secondary school in Pau, before transferring to Bordeaux. He studied literature at university, and at the age of 23, sat the " agrégation ", the highest qualifying level for teachers in senior high schools and preparatory classes in France. Around the same time, his father was killed in a tractor accident.
  
  Bayrou married Élisabeth Perlant, also known as "Babette", in 1971. He and Perlant have five children, Hélène, Marie, Dominique, Calixte and Agnès. The children were raised on the farm where Bayrou was born and where Bayrou currently lives with Perlant.
  
  Prior to embarking on his political career, Bayrou taught history in Béarn in the French Pyrenees. He has written several books on politics and history, including one on King Henry IV of France. Bayrou's hobby is raising horses. He is a practising Roman Catholic, but strongly supports France's system of secularism (French: laïcité).