Annick Danièle Petrus (born 5 January 1961) is a French Saint Martinois educator and politician. She has served as the

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Collectivity of Saint Martin The Collectivity of Saint Martin (), commonly known as simply Saint Martin (, ), is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on the northern half of the Saint Martin (island), island of Saint Martin, as well as so ...

since October 2020 as a member of the Union for Democracy and The Republicans (LR) parties. Petrus is the first woman to represent Saint Martin's lone seat in the French Senate. Additionally, she has served in the

Territorial Council of Saint Martin The Collectivity of Saint Martin was a French commune for many years and formed part of Guadeloupe, which is an overseas ''région'' and ''département'' of France and is therefore in the European Union. In 2003, the population of the French pa ...

since 2017.

Biography

Petrus was born on 5 January 1961 in

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

to a Saint Martinois mother and a Guadeloupean father. She is a native of

, but divided her time between that island and Saint Martin as a child. She received a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in educational sciences from the University of the French West Indies and Guiana. Petrus has two children, a son and a daughter. In 1990, Petrus permanently moved to Saint Martin to work as a teacher. She later became principal of Emile Larmonie primary school in , Saint Martin. Petrus has served as a

volunteer firefighter A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...

in the mid-2000s, after accompanying her son to his firefighting training in Guadeloupe. Petrus first ran for political office in the 2012 Saint Martin Territorial Council election, but her political group was largely defeated in the election. Shortly after her loss, Petrus joined the Union for Democracy (UD) party, led by Daniel Gibbs. Annick Petrus was elected to the

on the Union for Democracy ticket in the 2017 general election. She was appointed as the council's third vice president shortly after taking office. In the

2020 French Senate election Senatorial elections were held on 27 September 2020 to renew 172 of the 348 seats in the Senate of the French Fifth Republic. The elections were a modest victory for the centre-right Republicans. The environmentalist Europe Ecology – The Gre ...

, Petrus was nominated for the Senator of Saint Martin seat in the French Senator by the majority UD party. Her opponents included incumbent Senator Guillaume Arnell of the RDSE group, who was seeking a second term. The island's lone national senator is selected through an

indirect election An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by the Grand Electors of Saint Martin, largely made up of members of the Territorial Council. Petrus failed to secure a majority in the first round on 27 September 2020, receiving only 10 votes, but won the second round with 68.2%. Petrus won 15 votes in the second round, versus five votes for Marthe Ogoundele-Tessi, and two for outgoing Senator Guillaume Arnell. Petrus took office on 1 October 2020, becoming the first woman to represent Saint Martin in the French Senate. She sits within the LR parliamentary group.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrus, Annick Living people 1961 births Senators of Saint Martin French senators of the Fifth Republic Members of the Territorial Council of Saint Martin Saint Martinois educators Saint Martinois politicians Saint Martinois women in politics Union for Democracy (Saint Martin) politicians The Republicans (France) politicians People from Pointe-à-Pitre 21st-century French women politicians Women members of the Senate (France)