Catherine Fonck (born 22 September 1968) is a

nephrologist Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

and Belgian politician. She is currently a member of the

Centre démocrate humaniste Humanist Democratic Centre (french: Centre Démocrate Humaniste, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist French-speaking political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) w ...

(cdH).

Early life and education

Fonck was born in

Ciney Ciney (; wa, Cînè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 2018, Ciney had a total population of 16,439. The total area is 147.56 km² which gives a population density of 111 inhabitants per k ...

, in the Province of

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

, in the

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

region of Belgium. She graduated from the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in 1993 with a medical degree.

Career

Specialized in internal medicine and

nephrology Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function (ren ...

, she worked first at the

Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc The Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (UCLouvain Saint-Luc) is a non-profit academic hospital of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain), located on the university campus of UCLouvain Bruxelles Woluwe in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels, Belgium. T ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and at the St. Elizabeth Maternity and Clinic in

. Fonck married Jacques Doyen. She served as the Minister for Children, Youth Assistance and Health in the

French Community of Belgium In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédé ...

from 2004 to 2009 and Secretary of State for Environment and Secretary of State for Institutional Reforms in the federal

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

in 2014. She is currently the cdH group leader in the Chamber of Representatives since 13 October 2014.

Political career

Elected member of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

since June 2003, she was effective member of the Committee on Public Health, Environment and Renewal of Society as well as alternate member of the Economic Committee and Social Affairs Committee. From July 2004 to July 2009, she served as the Minister for Children, Youth Assistance and Health in the French Community. During the federal elections of 10 June 2007, Catherine Fonck's list of the CdH in the House for the

Province of Hainaut Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium. To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...

received 25,685 votes. She was elected member of Parliament but leaves her seat to her substitute deputy to remain Minister for Children, Youth Assistance and Health in

French Community The French Community (1958–1960; french: Communauté française) was the constitutional organization set up in 1958 between France and its remaining African colonies, then in the process of decolonization. It replaced the French Union, which ...

. In June 2009, she topped the list CdH in the regional elections in the district of

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

with a total of 7,986 votes. Catherine Fonck is also the current head of the CdH group in

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

. She replaces on 22 July 2014

Melchior Wathelet Melchior H. M. J. F. C. Wathelet (born 6 March 1949) is a Belgian politician and member of the Humanist Democratic Centre who served as 4th Minister-President of Wallonia. He has degrees in law and in economics (University of Liège) and is a M ...

as Secretary of State for Minister of Energy until 13 October 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonck, Catherine Living people 1968 births 21st-century Belgian politicians 21st-century Belgian women politicians Belgian women physicians Belgian nephrologists