By Rob Bogaerts – Wikimedia

Top 10 Facts about French Feminist Simone Veil


 

Simone Veil was born in Nice on July 13, 1927 to André, an architect and Yvonne, a science graduate. She had three siblings, Madeleine, Denise, and Jean. Simone was the last-born daughter.

She is remembered as the woman responsible for advancing the rights of women in France in the 20th century. Simone was always at the forefront fighting for better treatment of women.

She endured a lot of hate and controversy throughout her active years as a feminist. A law in France was even named after her, the law that legalized abortion in France.

Simone contributed to a lot of legislative and political policies concerning women in France and was the first woman to break the glass ceiling.

Even after her death, Simone is still celebrated as a symbol of resilience, inspiration and empowerment. She died in 2017 a few weeks before her 90th birthday.

Here are the top 10 facts about Simon Veil.

1. Simone survived the concentration camp after getting arrested at 17

Simone’s parents moved to Nice in 1924 soon after they got married. Her father who was an architect wanted to take advantage of the numerous construction projects in nice.

Simone and her siblings went to school in Lycée and she completed her baccalaureate in 1944. She had been afraid of taking the final test because the Jews were being targeted by the Nazis. Her entire family was arrested.

Simone, Madelaine and her mother Yvonne, were taken to concentration camps first in Auschwitz-Birkenau then to Bergen-Belsen. Her sister Denise was arrested for joining the French resistance and was deported to Ravensbruck.

Her father and brother, Jean, were taken to Lithuania and were never heard of again. Only 17 men survived from 878 Jewish men that were arrested in 1944.

Simone’s memory of her father is that he raised them up to be proud of their nationality. Her mother got ill shortly after being liberated in 1945 and died.

She went back to Paris in May of the same year.

2. Simone was a fearless feminist

Simone never shied away from publicly identifying as a feminist. She advocated for Women’s rights and drafted legislation that protected the reproductive rights of women in France.

She considered herself as a person that weighed both sides of an issue then acting upon it rather than disregarding the inconsistencies of one issue.

Simone stood in solidarity with women and this she credits to the close relationship she had with her mother. She also mentioned that she was greatly influenced by women and always felt closer to them.

Her experience in the concentration camps drew her closer to women because they helped each other generously. This experience inspired her to lobby and advocate for better conditions for women who were marginalized.

3. Simone Lobbied to Legalize Abortion in France

By Claude Truong- Wikimedia

Simone is best remembered for leading in the fight to legalize abortion in France. The law was passed and is known as Loi Veil. This was the best achievement as a feminist.

She advocated that abortion be made legal at 10 weeks of pregnancy and that the procedure be performed by a licenced medical practitioner in a hospital and clinic.

Before the law was passed, France had banned abortion and there was an increase in the number of women who procured abortion illegally.

Simone stepped in and together with other feminists, set up an organization that defended women who got prosecuted for abortion.

As the health minister, Simone first lobbied for the easy availability of contraceptives to women. She then faced a hostile parliament when she lobbied to have abortion legalized.

Her famous opening speech while addressing the parliament on why abortion needed to be legal was “No woman resorts to abortion with a light heart. One only has to listen to them: it is always a tragedy,”. Majority of the parliamentarians were men who booed her.

4. Simone Veil advocated for better facilities for women in prison

Soon after Simone was appointed as the health minister in 1974, she embarked on advocating for the women’s reproductive health. She successfully won the tough battle.

Simone was the second woman in France to appointed as a full cabinet minister. She was faced with many challenges which she overcame. Her openness, modesty and humility have seen better future for women in France, Europe and the world at large.

While serving as a penitentiary administrator, Simone noticed that the condition of women in prison was poorer than that of men. This was despite the number of women in prison being lower than that of men.  She, therefore, acted to improve the way the women were treated.

When she got a senior position at the National Penitentiary Administration, Simone worked to improve the conditions of Women in French jails.

She had female Algerian prisoners transferred to France after there were reports of abuse and rape in Algerian prisons during the Algerian War of Independence.

5. Simone ensured women got educated and had dual parental control

By Rob Croes / Anefo – Wikimedia

During the Algerian war of independence, Simone successfully transferred female prisoners from Algeria to France. These prisoners got better treatment in France.

What followed next, Simone ensured that these women pursued an education while in prison. She was then appointed as the director of civil affairs. Her impact was felt when she improved women’s rights and status.

She ensured that women in France had dual parental control on family legal matters, rights for single mothers and their children and the adoption rights for women.

During her term as the health minister, Simone ensured that women’s health coverage was expanded, they got a monthly stipend for child care and maternity benefits.

6. Simone Veil’s endured a lot of humiliation from her male counterparts

As a feminist in a patriarchal society, Simone endured a lot of humiliation and aggression while in parliament as a leader. Her family was not spared either, anonymous letters filled with derogatory words were sent to her home and her office.

Hateful comments were thrown her way comparing her fight to legalize abortion to the holocaust. Swastikas were painted on her car, the lift in her building and letters condemning her two sons.

The members of parliament indirectly attacked her by comparing the banning of laboratory experiments on animals for commercial purposes. Members of parliament likened that to the genocide of Auschwitz.

One parliamentarian, Jean-Marie Dalliet once asked her during a session in parliament if she would throw embryos into crematorium ovens. This was when she was lobbying for the abortion law.

7. Simone Was the First President of an Elected European Parliament

By Diliff – Wikimedia

While embracing her feminism fully, Simone did not shy away from speaking publicly about the holocaust and championing for civil liberties.

She campaigned for a position in the European parliament in 1979, it was the first direct election. Simone became the first directly elected president of the European parliament. She was also the first woman to serve in that position.

She served as the president for three years and remained as a member of the legislative body until 1993.

8. Simone supported European integration

While serving as the president of the European Union parliament, Simone dedicated her time lobbying for European integration.  Simone campaigned for a yes vote in a referendum on Europe’s constitutional treaty.

This was when she served as a council member for France’s constitutional council. She got criticized for her choice since this contravened the council’s rules on political neutrality.

Simone had taken leave from the council. The No side however won and she termed it as a catastrophe.

9. Simone was the first holocaust survivor in European Parliament

Simone never shied away from speaking about the holocaust and the importance of remembering the events that took place.

She considered it an important step in having a holocaust survivor as the first president of the European Parliament.

She was for a united European Union although her father was anti-German all his life.

Her mother, on the other hand, would have loved to see a reconciled Europe. Simone once mentioned that her mother would have been proud of her as the president of the European Parliament.

She has received several accolades and honours for her dedication to women rights. She served as the president of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah and honorary president of the Foundation of Science and Culture in Europe.

10. Simone Veil is buried in the Pantheon

By Joëlle R. Lévy – Wikimedia

Simone Veil died in 2017 two weeks before her 90th birthday, she was buried next to her husband. During the ceremony at Les Invalides that was attended by the French President, Emanuel Macron, he announced that Simone and her Husband would be reburied in the pantheon.

Her burial at the Pantheon happened in July 2018. She was given this honorary burial for her achievements and values that she stood for. She one of the few women who are buried in the mausoleum which is male dominated.

 

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