Simone (-Annie) Veil

Administrator and public official, born in Nice, SE France. At the age of 13, she was deported to Auschwitz. She studied law, and worked for the French Ministry of Justice (1957–65), later becoming minister of health (1974–9), and minister of social affairs (1993–5). A popular campaigner for women's rights, she was elected the first president of the European Parliament (1979–82).

Simone Veil (born Simone Annie Jacob, 13 July 1927) is a French lawyer and politician who currently serves as a member of the Constitutional Council of France.

Veil was born the daughter of a Jewish architect in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

Having obtained her baccalauréat in 1943 before being deported, she began the study of law and political science, where she met her future husband Antoine Veil.

From 1974 to 1979 she was Minister of Health in the governments of prime ministers Jacques Chirac and Raymond Barre. This action was criticized, because it seems to contradict the legal provisions that members of the council should keep a distance from partisan politics: the independence and impartiality of the council would be jeopardized, critics said, if members can put themselves "on leave" in order to campaign for such or such project.

The New York based Union of Orthodox Rabbis heavily criticized Veil's presence at the commemoration of Auschwitz's liberation in 2005, as Veil - the orthodox rabbis said - was to be held responsible for a mass murder of human life far exceeding that of the German National Socialists by legalizing and promoting abortion.

In 2005 she was awarded with the Prince of Asturias Award in International Cooperation.

Preceded by: Emilio Colombo

President of the European Parliament 1979–1982

Succeeded by: Piet Dankert