Simone Veil
French politician (1927–2017)
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Key Takeaways
- Simone Veil ( French: [simɔn vɛj] ; née Jacob ; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor and politician.
- As minister of health, she championed women’s rights and is best remembered for the landmark 1975 law legalising abortion, known as the Veil Act (French: Loi Veil ).
- She later served on France’s Constitutional Council (1998–2007), the country’s highest legal authority, and as president of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, where she contributed to Holocaust remembrance and education.
- After her death in 2017, she and her husband, Antoine Veil, were interred at the Panthéon in July 2018 during a state ceremony led by President Emmanuel Macron.
Simone Veil (French: [simɔn vɛj] ; née Jacob; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French magistrate, Holocaust survivor and politician. Deported as a teenager to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later Bergen-Belsen, she became a prominent advocate for human dignity and European reconciliation. As minister of health, she championed women’s rights and is best remembered for the landmark 1975 law legalising abortion, known as the Veil Act (French: Loi Veil).
In 1979, Veil became the first woman elected President of the European Parliament, symbolising both her stature and her commitment to European integration as a guarantee of peace. She later served on France’s Constitutional Council (1998–2007), the country’s highest legal authority, and as president of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, where she contributed to Holocaust remembrance and education.
Honoured nationally and internationally, she was elected to the Académie Française in 2008, received the grand cross of the Légion d’honneur in 2012, and was awarded numerous doctorates honoris causa abroad. After her death in 2017, she and her husband, Antoine Veil, were interred at the Panthéon in July 2018 during a state ceremony led by President Emmanuel Macron.
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