Jean-François Hory born in 1949 in Neufchatel, in the Vosges (France) graduated in Law at the University of Dijon and in Political Science at the University of Paris.
From 1981 to 1986 he was the deputy for Mayotte in the National Assembly. In 1982 he joined the Movement of Left-Wing Radicals (MRG), serving as Executive Secretary from 1983 to 1983 and national delegate from 1988 to 1989.
In 1989 he was elected for the first time to the European Parliament.
President of MRG in 1992. In 1993 he joined the transnational and transdivisional Radical Party, and in Sofia he was elected Vice-President of the Assembly of Parliamentarians.
At the Congress for the refoundation of the MRG in 1994, where the movement adopted the name Radical, he was re-elected President. In 1994 he was also re-elected to the European Parliament.