Dominique Voynet (born 4 November 1958) is a French politician who is a member of Europe Écologie–The Greens. She is the former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Montreuil and was a French

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 '' département'' of Seine-Saint-Denis.

Life

Dominique Voynet trained as a doctor, specifically as an anesthetist. 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 Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

of the Vosges area on behalf of the Belfort Association for the Protection of Nature. She also became a member of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

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 Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

– 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. DominiqueVoynet2005

In 1989 she was elected a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

. From 1992 to 1994 she was a member of the

conseil régional A regional council () is the elected assembly of a region of France. History Regional councils were created by law on 5 July 1972. Originally they were simply consultative bodies consisting of the region's parliamentary representatives plus an ...

(regional council) of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

. 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

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. In the first round of the election, she garnered 576,666 votes (1.57%), failing to reach the second round. On 25 November 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 Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

Regional Health Agency.

Political positions

In a 2016

op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...

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 Valérie Anne Émilie Pécresse (; Birth name, née Roux ; 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has been the President of the Regional Council (France), President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republic ...

– in making a public vow to expose "all sexist remarks, inappropriate gestures and behaviour."Kim Willsher (15 May 2016
French former ministers launch attack on sexism in politics
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Political career

Governmental function Minister of Planning and Environment : 1997–2001. Electoral mandates ''European Parliament'' Member of

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

: 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) Jura ( , ) is a department in the eastern French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The department takes its name from the Jura Mountains. Its prefecture is Lons-le-Saunier; subprefectures are Dole and Saint-Claude. In 2019, Jura had a pop ...

: 1998–2004. ''Regional Council'' Regional councillor of

: 1992–1994 (Resignation). ''Municipal Council''

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis Montreuil (), also known unofficially as Montreuil-sous-Bois (), is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department and in the Mét ...

: 2008–2014. Municipal councillor of Dole, Jura : 1989–2004 (Resignation). Reelected in 1995, 2001.

References

External links

Dominique Voynet's official senatorial site

Dominique Voynet's official campaign site for the 2007 presidential election
* http://dominiquevoynet.eelv.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Voynet, Dominique 1958 births Living people People from Montbéliard French anesthesiologists 20th-century French physicians 21st-century French physicians Mayors of places in Île-de-France Candidates in the 1995 French presidential election Candidates in the 2007 French presidential election Women government ministers of France Europe Ecology – The Greens politicians French Democratic Confederation of Labour members 21st-century French women politicians 20th-century French women politicians Ministers of the environment of France Senators of Seine-Saint-Denis Women opposition leaders Women members of the Senate (France) Women anesthesiologists 20th-century French women physicians 21st-century French women physicians

Life

Political positions

Political career

See also

Bibliography

Works about Dominique Voynet

References

External links