Gabriëlle Popken (born 21 August 1983) is a Dutch former politician for the

Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...

. She served in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

between 2011 and 2017 and subsequently in the House of Representatives between 2017 and 2020.

Youth and education

Popken was born in

Geleen Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg in the Netherlands. With 31,670 inhabitants in 2020, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Gele ...

on 21 August 1983. Between 2003 and 2007 she studied law at Maastricht University, earning a bachelor's degree. The subsequent year she earned a master's degree in commercial law at the same university.

Political career

She became a parliamentary assistant to Geert Wilders on 4 May 2009. Popken became a member of the Senate for the

on 7 June 2011. Popken took maternity leave per 8 September 2015 and was replaced by Peter van Dijk, it was the first time in the history of the Senate that a senator was replaced due to a maternity leave. She returned to the Senate on 29 December. Popken was elected to the House of Representatives in the

2017 Dutch general election General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. The incumbent government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte was the first to serve a full term since 2002. The previo ...

and took up her seat on 23 March 2017. From 31 March 2018 to 20 July 2018 she was on pregnancy and maternity leave and was temporarily replaced by Emiel van Dijk. Popken left the House on 31 August 2020, having already been absent for several months due to health reasons. She was succeeded by Sietse Fritsma.

Personal life

Popken is married to fellow politician

Marcel de Graaff M. J. R. L. "Marcel" de Graaff (; born 7 April 1962) is a Dutch politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Netherlands since February 2020, and previously served between 2014 and 2019. He represented the Party fo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popken, Gabrielle 1983 births Living people 21st-century Dutch politicians Maastricht University alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Party for Freedom politicians People from Geleen