Over 1,000 people attended a memorial ceremony Thursday in central Paris for the founder of France’s main far-right party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last week at the age of 96.The “mass for the repose of the soul” at Notre-Dame du Val-de-Grâce church took place under tight security,

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen paid tribute Wednesday to her father Jean-Marie, the founder of the National Front party who died at 96, calling him a “warrior” in politics despite their notoriously harsh political disputes.

Controversy was Le Pen's constant companion: accusations of racism and antisemitism dogged the National Front from when he co-founded the party.

A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen was convicted numerous times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence.

Once called the 'most hated man in France', Le Pen maintained that his ideas were simply 'ahead of their time'

The church Notre-Dame du Val de Grace, in Paris, has been the scene of the tribute with a religious ceremony to the founder of the French National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died last Tuesday at the age of 96.