Simone Veil was a French politician who survived the Holocaust and the first female President of the European Parliament.
Simone Veil was a French politician whose life symbolises 20th century Europe, reflecting both its high and low points. She was described by Jean d'Ormesson as: 'We cannot classify her among political women at all, she was much more than that, she was a sort of conscience of France and Europe'.
Who was Simone Veil?
Simone Veil was born in Nice in the south of France in 1927 to middle-class Jewish parents.
They very much represented the modern secular Jewish world view of the first half of the 20th century. They were active in various social Jewish organisations, known to be staunch supporters of the secular state and the French values of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.
With the rise of Nazism in Europe these values were put to a most stringent test, with tragic outcomes.
In 1944, at the age of 16, Simone and her entire family - like the majority of Europe's Jews - were deported to concentration camps. Her parents and brother were murdered - only Simone and her two sisters survived the war.
After the war, Simone and her sisters decided to remain in France - unlike many Jews who, after having survived the horrors of the concentration camps, emigrated to Israel and North America.
What causes was Simone Veil dedicated to?
Veil would dedicate the rest of her life to public service defending women's rights, helping underrepresented communities and rebuilding Europe from the ashes of World War II.
As the French minister of health in the 1970s, she was a staunch supporter of women’s reproductive rights.
Under her tenure as a minister, contraception became more accessible and, in 1975, abortion was legalised. To this day, the law protecting women’s rights to control their bodies is called the Veil Law.
What European roles did Simone Veil hold?
Veil served as an elected official of the European parliament from 1979 to 1993.
For the majority of this period, she held the position of president. In this capacity, she worked tirelessly to defend human rights, strengthen intra-European ties, promote European culture and protect the most vulnerable in society.
Even after retiring from politics, Veil remained active in French society.
In 2008, Veil was elected to the Académie Francaise, being only the sixth woman in the institution's almost 500 year old history to receive such an honour, as well as one of the few politicians to ever be invited to join the 'immortal forty'.
Until the end of her life Veil continued to break barriers. She insisted that if she'd be given the honour to be buried in the Panthéon - an honour bestowed upon only the most esteemed French citizens, such as Voltaire and Marie Curie among others - she would only accept if her husband could be buried next to her.
This request was granted by president Emmanuel Macron when she passed away in 2017.
To this day Veil continues to be one of the most beloved Frenchwomen of all time.
This blog is part of Europeana XX, a project co-funded by the European Union that focuses on the 20th century and its social, political and economic changes.