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Nicolas Sarkozy nepotism row: a French tradition?
Allegations that have forced President Nicolas Sarkozy to deny that he helped his son, Jean, win a plum job in France's top business district, hark back to a long tradition of fathers helping sons in French politics.
Arguably the most controversial appointment was that of Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, whose father, François - the late Socialist president - made him his adviser for African affairs.
African leaders were said to have nicknamed Jean-Christophe "Papa-told-me" because of his habit of dropping his father's name into conversation. His career came to an ignominious halt due to an arms trafficking scandal. In 2006 he was found guilty of tax evasion.
President Mitterrand's youngest son, Gilbert, was elected to parliament four times on a Socialist ticket, winning a seat for the first time in 1981 - the year his father took office.
French media have drawn parallels between the nepotism allegations against the young Mr Sarkozy and those of the eldest son of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, another former president.
At just 22, Henri Giscard d'Estaing became France's youngest regional parliamentarian in a county near his family's rural estate. His father's position is said to have influenced the dispatching of a crew from TF1, the then state-run-and influenced TV channel, to spend a week filming Henri to boost his electoral profile. But his political career quickly foundered when his father lost power in 1981 and he moved into business.
Mr Giscard d'Estaing's youngest son, Louis, started in business but moved into politics and is today a prominent member of the national parliament, without his father's help.
Closer to home, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the first lady, has been attributed with drafting in friends such as Frédéric Mitterrand, the embattled culture minister who is the former president's nephew, into the government, and of helping form a kitchen cabinet or unofficial advisers, including her former boyfriend, Raphael Enthoven.
Other offspring of former leaders now in politics include Marine Le Pen, the deputy president of the far-Right party, the National Front - the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the party. She is expected to succeed him when the 81-year-old retires.
Martine Aubry, head of the Socialist party, is the daughter of the former European Commission president, Jacques Delors.