Simone Veil
Encyclopedia
Simone Veil, DBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 (born 13 July 1927) is a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Health
Minister of Health (France)
Minister of Health and Solidarity is currently a cabinet position in the Government of France. The health portfolio oversees the healthcare public services and the health insurance part of the French Social Security...

 under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...

, President of the European Parliament
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...

 and member of the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...

.

A survivor from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...

 where she lost part of her family, she is the Honorary President of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah
Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah
Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah is a Shoah Foundation that was formed in 2000, with recovered money from the property taken from French Jews during World War II. The Foundation’s mission is to support projects in all areas of history and research into the Shoah, education and transmission,...

.

She was elected to the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...

 in November 2008.

Early life

Veil was born Simone Annie Liline Jacob, the daughter of a Jewish architect in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. In March 1944, Veil's family was deported, Simone, her mother and one sister to Auschwitz-Birkenau then Bergen-Belsen
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...

 where her mother died shortly before the camp's 15 April 1945 liberation. Veil's father and brother also died; they are last known to have been sent on a transport to Lithuania. Veil's other sister who had been arrested as a member of the Resistance survived her imprisonment in Ravensbrück
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....

. Veil returned to speak at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2005 for the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camps.

Having obtained her baccalauréat
Baccalauréat
The baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was introduced by Napoleon I in 1808. It is the main diploma required to pursue university studies...

 in 1943 before being deported, she began the study of law and political science at Sciences Po
Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...

, where she met her future husband Antoine Veil.

The couple married on 26 October 1946, and have three sons.

Veil became an attorney and worked for several years as a civil servant in the Ministry of Justice.

Minister of Health

From 1974 to 1979 she was Minister of Health
Minister of Health (France)
Minister of Health and Solidarity is currently a cabinet position in the Government of France. The health portfolio oversees the healthcare public services and the health insurance part of the French Social Security...

 in the governments of prime minister
Prime Minister of France
The Prime Minister of France in the Fifth Republic is the head of government and of the Council of Ministers of France. The head of state is the President of the French Republic...

s Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...

 and Raymond Barre
Raymond Barre
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three Presidents and later served as Prime Minister under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing from 1976 until 1981...

. She pushed forward the following notable laws:
  • Making access to contraception
    Contraception
    Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...

     easier (4 December 1974) – the sale of contraceptives
    Birth control
    Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...

     such as the combined oral contraceptive pill had been made legal in 1967.
  • Legalizing abortion (17 January 1975), her hardest political fight, and the one for which she is best-known.

European Parliament

Veil was elected as a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 in the 1979 European election
European Parliament election, 1979
The 1979 European elections were parliamentary elections held across all 9 European Community member states. They were the first European elections to be held, allowing citizens to elect 410 MEPs to the European Parliament, and also the first international election in history.Seats in the...

. In its first session, the new Parliament elected Veil as its President
President of the European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...

, which she served as until 1982.
As well as being the first president of the elected Parliament, she was the first female President since the Parliament was created in 1952. In 1981, Veil won the prestigious Charlemagne Prize
Karlspreis
- See also :*Charlemagne*European integration*Leipzig Human Rights Award, originally called the "Alternative Charlemagne Award", formed in opposition to Clinton's recognition with the award- External links :* http://www.karlspreis.de/ *...

. She was re-elected in the 1984 election
European Parliament election, 1984
The 1984 election to the European Parliament was the first since the inaugural election of 1979 and the 1981 enlargement of the European Community to include Greece. It was also the last before the accession of Spain and Portugal in 1987....

 and became the leader of the Liberal Democrat group
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (European Parliament group)
The Group of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party was a liberal political group with seats in the European Parliament between 1994 and 2004. The group comprised the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and its constituent national-level parties.Its predecessors have existed since...

 until 1989. She was re-elected for the last time in the 1989 election
European Parliament election, 1989
The 1989 European Parliamentary Election was a European election held across the 12 European Community member states in June 1989. It was third European election but the first time that Spain and Portugal voted at the same time as the other members...

, standing down in 1993.

Between 1984 and 1992 she served on the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety is a committee of the European Parliament. It has 68 members and a secretariat of 10 administrators. Its chairman is...

, and the Committee on Political Affairs. After standing down from these committees she served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Foreign Affairs (EU)
The Committee on Foreign Affairs , previously called Political Affairs, is a committee of the European Parliament...

 and its related Subcommittee on Human Rights
Subcommittee on Human Rights
The Subcommittee on Human Rights is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. The committee is chaired by Barbara Lochbihler .- See also :* Sakharov Prize...

. Between 1989 and 1993 she was also a member of Parliament's delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states that have signed the Cotonou Agreement.Since the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union...

, serving as its vice-chairwoman until 1992.

Member of the Constitutional Council

In 1998, she was appointed to the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...

. In 2005, she put herself briefly on leave from the Council in order to campaign in favour of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...

. This action was criticized, because it seems to contradict the legal provisions that members of the council should keep a distance from partisan politics: the independence and impartiality of the council would be jeopardized, critics said, if members can put themselves "on leave" in order to campaign for such or such project.

In 2003, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

's Trust Fund for Victims.

In 2005 she was awarded with the Prince of Asturias Award
Prince of Asturias Awards
The Prince of Asturias Awards are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Prince of Asturias Foundation to individuals, entities or organizations from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, humanities, and public affairs....

 in International Cooperation.

In 2007, she was awarded the North-South Prize
North-South Prize
The North–South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognised for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of human rights, the defence of pluralist democracy and...

 of the Council of Europe.

In 2007, Veil surprised many observers by declaring her support for the neo-conservative presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

. She was by his side on the day after he received 31 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections that year.

Veil entered the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...

 in 2008, the sixth woman ever to do so. Veil joined the Academy's forty "immortals" at their 13th seat, originally the seat of Jean Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...

. Her induction address was given in March 2010 by Jean d'Ormesson. On her sword, given to her as to every other immortal, is engraved her Auschwitz number [number 78651], the motto of the French Republic [liberté, égalité, fraternité] and the motto of the European Union [ Unis dans la diversité].

Political career

Member of the Constitutional Council of France
Constitutional Council of France
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958, and its duty is to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are upheld.Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed...

 : 1998–2007

Governmental functions
  • Minister of Health, Social security, and Family : 1974–1979 (Became member of European Parliament
    European Parliament
    The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

    in 1979)
  • Minister of State, minister of Health, Social affairs, and City : 1993–1995


Electoral mandates
  • President of European Parliament : 1979–1982 (Elected member in 1979)
  • Member of European Parliament : 1982–1984
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