Dominique Voynet
Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958 in Montbéliard, Doubs département, France) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former mayor of Montreuil and was a French senator for the département of Seine-Saint-Denis.
Dominique Voynet | |
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Director of Mayotte Regional Health Agency | |
Assumed office 1 Jan 2020 | |
Mayor of Montreuil | |
In office 2008–2014 | |
Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Brard |
Succeeded by | Patrice Bessac |
Personal details | |
Born | Montbéliard, France | 4 November 1958
Nationality | French |
Political party | Europe Écologie–The Greens |
Profession | Physician |
Life
Dominique Voynet trained as a doctor, specifically as an anaesthetist. During her studies in the late 1970s, she began participating in environmental activism. She fought against the establishment of nuclear reactors in Fessenheim and Malville, and the deforestation of the Vosges area on behalf of the Belfort Association for the Protection of Nature.
She also became a member of Amnesty International and the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). In her student years, she was a broadcaster for an independent radio station, "Radio ondes rouges" (Red Radio Waves). Her pacifist and environmental efforts continued with her membership of Front de lutte antimilitariste (FLAM, "Front for the Antimilitarist Struggle") and Friends of the Earth.
Politics tempted her at this time, however the issues that were dear to her – social efforts, peace and environmentalism – were not represented in France by any party at the time. For this reason, she became one of the founding members of The Greens in France.
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In 1989 she was elected a Member of the European Parliament. From 1992 to 1994 she was a member of the conseil régional (regional council) of Franche-Comté.
She contested the 1995 presidential election which raised her public profile across all of France. In the first round of voting, she won 3.32% of the vote.
She was elected mayor of Montreuil sous bois in the Seine Saint Denis on the second round of Municipal elections, 16 March 2008, defeating Jean Pierre Brard longstanding communist mayor since 1984.
From 1997 to 2001 she was Minister of the Environment and Regional Planning under the Lionel Jospin government, she resigned on 9 July 2001 and was replaced by Yves Cochet. In 2004, she was elected senator for the Seine-Saint-Denis département. Since the 2008 French municipal elections she is the elected mayor of Montreuil
Dominique Voynet was designated the Green candidate for the 2007 presidential election on 19 July 2006.[1] In the first round of the election, she garnered 576,666 votes (1.57%), failing to reach the second round.
On November 25, 2013, Voynet announced she would not seek a second term as mayor of Montreuil, complaining of the "degradation of political life" in Montreuil and elsewhere.
On 1 January 2020, Voynet became the Director of Mayotte Regional Health Agency. [2]
Political positions
In a 2016 op-ed published by Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Voynet joined sixteen other high-profile women from across the political spectrum – , including Élisabeth Guigou, Christine Lagarde, and Valérie Pécresse – in making a public vow to expose “all sexist remarks, inappropriate gestures and behaviour.”[3]
Political career
Governmental function
Minister of Planning and Environment : 1997-2001.
Electoral mandates
European Parliament
Member of European Parliament : 1989-1991 (Resignation). Elected in 1989.
Senate of France
Senator of Seine-Saint-Denis : 2004-2011. Elected in 2004.
General Council
General councillor of Jura (department) : 1998-2004.
Regional Council
Regional councillor of Franche-Comté : 1992-1994 (Resignation).
Municipal Council
Mayor of Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis : 2008-2014.
Municipal councillor of Dole, Jura : 1989-2004 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995, 2001.
See also
Bibliography
- Voix off (Voices Off)
- L'eau, numéro 22 (Water, Number 22)
- Qui êtes-vous, que proposez-vous ? (Who are you, what do you propose?)
Works about Dominique Voynet
- Dominique Voynet : Une vraie nature (Dominique Voynet: Her True Nature) by Murielle Szac
References
- "Le Monde: Dominique Voynet finalement désignée candidate des Verts à la présidentielle". Lemonde.fr. 18 July 2006. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- "Macron : «Mayotte, c'est la France jusqu'au bout»". Liberation (in French). Retrieved 21 April 2020.
- Kim Willsher (May 15, 2016) French former ministers launch attack on sexism in politics The Guardian.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dominique Voynet. |
- (in French) Dominique Voynet's official senatorial site
- (in French) Dominique Voynet's official campaign site for the 2007 presidential election
- (in French) http://dominiquevoynet.eelv.fr