The son of an Italian immigrant from
Piedmont, Forni was born in
Belfort, in 1941. His father died when he was 11. At 17, he had to stop studying, and he started to work as an unskilled worker in
Peugeot factories. He finally graduated from
high school at 21 and started law studies at the
University of Strasbourg. He became a lawyer at the age of 27 years. Member of the
Socialist Party, his political career started in 1971 when he became municipal council. In 1973, he was elected as deputy of
Territoire de Belfort département. He got reelected four times consecutively, until 2002. He was
President of the National Assembly from 2000 to 2002. He was president of the
Franche-Comté regional council from 2 April 2004, until his death. He died in
Paris on 5 January 2008, at the age of 66, of
leukaemia. He was married twice and had five sons. He was awarded Grand Cross of the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2000). ==Political career==