The co-founder of the main French postwar far-right movement Jean-Marie Le Pen is to be buried Saturday at a strictly family-only funeral after his death aged 96 exposed polarising attitudes towards a figure who for decades shook and shocked the country.

For years, the far-right National Rally tried to distance itself from Mr. Le Pen’s racist and antisemitic remarks. But after his death Tuesday, it hailed him as a visionary.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the longtime figurehead of France's far-right political movement and father of its current leader, has reportedly died.