Paul Vergès (; 5 March 1925 – 11/12 November 2016) was a

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

ese politician. Born in

Ubon Ratchathani Ubon Ratchathani (, ) is one of the four main cities in Thailand's Isan region, alongside Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat), Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen, collectively known as the "big four of Isan." Located on the Mun River in the southeastern Isan, ...

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

to a French diplomat father and Vietnamese mother. Vergès founded the

Communist Party of Réunion The Communist Party of Réunion (, PCR) is a communist political party in the French overseas department of Réunion (in the Indian Ocean). History PCR was founded in 1959, as the French Communist Party (PCF) federation in Reunion became an inde ...

in 1960, a party which he led until he retired in 1994. He made a political comeback at the 2005 European Parliament elections, when he was elected as the third candidate on the list of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

, part of the

European United Left–Nordic Green Left The Left in the European Parliament (The Left) is a left-wing political group of the European Parliament established in 1995. Prior to January 2021 it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (, GUE/NGL). The group is mainly compos ...

group. Vergès sat in the

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 ...

Committee on Development The Committee on Development (Commission du développement, DEVE) is a committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with deve ...

. Vergès killed the political opponent of his father, Alexis de Villeneuve, on 25 May 1946. He was condemned for the crime to a sentence of 5 years in prison. Vergès was an MP in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

from 1957 to 1959, from 1987 to 1988 and from 1994 to 1997. He was a Senator in the French Parliament from 1997 to 2005 and again since 2012. From 1980 to 1990 and from 2005 to 2008, he was a member of the

. He was president of the regional council of Réunion from 1999 to 2011, regional councillor since 2011, mayor of Le Port from 1972 to 1990 and general councillor of La Réunion from 1956 to 1968 and again from 1986 to 1999. In the European Parliament, he was also a member of the

Subcommittee on Human Rights The Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI, after the French name ''Sous-commission des droits de l'homme du Parlement européen'') is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of human ...

, a substitute for the

Committee on Regional Development A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, vice-chair of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and a substitute for the delegation for relations with the countries of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. Vergès died the night of 11/12 November 2016, at the age of 91. His twin brother was the lawyer

Jacques Vergès Jacques Vergès (; 5 March 1925 – 15 August 2013) was a French-Algerian lawyer of Vietnamese origin and anti-colonial activist. Vergès began as a fighter in the French Resistance during World War II, under Charles de Gaulle's Free French forc ...

References

External links

European Parliament biography

Declaration of financial interests
(in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

;

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file) {{DEFAULTSORT:Verges, Paul 1925 births 2016 deaths Paul Verges French people of Vietnamese descent French Communist Party politicians Communist Party of Réunion politicians Deputies of the 3rd National Assembly of the French Fourth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Réunion Presidents of the Regional Council of Réunion Members of the Regional Council of Réunion Communist Party of Réunion MEPs French Communist Party MEPs Mayors of places in Réunion MEPs for the Overseas Territories of France 2004–2009 French twins Paul Verges Members of Parliament for Réunion