Edwige Antier (born 15 May 1942) is a French paediatrician and former politician. She was one of two women elected to the Territorial Assembly of New Caledonia in 1977, the territory's first female legislators. She was served in the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

as a representative of Paris's 4th constituency.

Biography

Antier was born in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in 1942.Mme Edwige Antier
National Assembly After an internship at the

Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris Assistance is an act of helping behavior. Assistance may also refer to: Types of help * Aid, in international relations, a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another * Assistance dog, a dog trained to aid or assist a person ...

, she moved to New Caledonia in 1972, where she worked as a paediatrician and became a member of the territory's Council of the Order of Physicians. She also became involved in politics and headed the Union for the Renewal of New Caledonia party for the 1977 elections. Considered a party of right-wing intelligentsia, it won a single seat in the South constituency, taken by Antier-Lagarde.New Caledonia's poll:Independence the issue
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', November 1977, p37 Alongside Marie-Paule Serve, she became one of the first two women in the Territorial Assembly. She was elected vice president of the Assembly, and became president of the Health Commission. In 1979 she returned to France, she worked at the Baudelocque maternity hospital and in a private maternity hospital, as well as practicing at a medical office in Paris. She also started a broadcasting career, joining

France Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...

in 1981 and then

France Info France Info (stylised as franceinfo:) is a French public broadcasting service produced in collaboration with France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde and the Institut national de l'audiovisuel. The service includes a radio ...

from 1987. She also published several books for parents. In 2001, she became a member of the board of directors of the Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris. In the same year she was elected as a city councillor in Paris, serving until 2008. In the 2007 National Assembly elections, she was elected as a substitute for

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

deputy

Pierre Lellouche Pierre Lellouche (born 3 May 1951) is a French lawyer and politician of the Republicans who served as Secretary of State for Foreign Trade under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Christine Lagarde in the government of Prime Minis ...

. After Lellouche was made Secretary of State for European Affairs, Antier became a full member of the National Assembly in July 2009. She became a member of the Social Affairs Commission, and authored a bill aiming to abolish corporal punishment for children. After losing her seat in the 2012 elections, she was a founder member of the

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right list of political parties in France, political party in France and former Electoral alliance ...

.Liste des membres fondateurs de l'UDI
Union of Democrats and Independents

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antier, Edwige 1942 births Living people Politicians from Toulon French pediatricians Women pediatricians Members of the Congress of New Caledonia Councillors of Paris Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Women members of the National Assembly (France) Union for a Popular Movement politicians Union of Democrats and Independents politicians New Caledonian women in politics New Caledonian people of French descent 20th-century French women politicians 21st-century French women politicians Physicians from Toulon