Hélène Missoffe ( Hélène de Mitry; 15 June 1927 – 22 January 2015) was a French

Union of Democrats for the Republic The Union for the Defence of the Republic (french: Union pour la défense de la République), after 1968 renamed Union of Democrats for the Republic (french: Union des Démocrates pour la République), commonly abbreviated UDR, was a Gaullist p ...

later the Rally for the Republic politician. She was elected three times as a deputy of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

between 1974 and 1986, firstly to represent the 24th district of Paris during the fifth and sixth legislatures of the National Assembly and lastly to represent the

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

constituency at the eighth National Assembly legislature. Missoffe served as a senator in the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

for Val-d'Oise from 1986 to 1995 and was a vice-president of the

Regional Council of Île-de-France The Regional Council of Île-de-France () is the regional council of Île-de-France, France's most populous administrative region. Made up of 209 regional councillors elected for 6 years, it is headquartered in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just north of ...

. She was appointed

Officier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Personal background

On 15 June 1927, Missoffe was born in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as the neuvième (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is loc ...

. She was the daughter of the Count Emmanuel de Mitry and Marguerite de Wendel, who was a descendant of the Wendel family. Missoffe was a Catholic. She was married to François Missoffe, the politician who was the former Ambassador of France to Japan, with whom she had eight children, including the politician

Françoise de Panafieu Françoise de Panafieu (born 12 December 1948) is a French politician, member of The Republicans (LR) party and mayor of the 17th arrondissement of Paris between 2001 and 2008. Political career De Panafieu was a member of the French Cabinet a ...

. On 22 January 2015, Missoffe died in Paris. Her funeral took place five days later in

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

Career

Missoffe was a member of the

and later the Rally for the Republic political party. She became a deputy for Paris's 24th district to be part of the fifth legislature of the

on 26 July 1974, replacing her husband whose temporary mission as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

was extended past half a year. Missoffe served as a member on the Committee on Cultural, Family and Social Affairs from 1974 to 1977, and was appointed the State Secretary to the Minister of Health and Social Security, by President

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

on 1 April 1977. She remained in the post until 31 March 1978 prior to the dissolution of the Second Barre Government, and had been a councillor for Paris. Missoffe was appointed the Union of Democrats for the Republic's national secretary for women's action and then as its national delegate overseeing cultural, family and social affairs in 1975. At the

1978 French legislative election The French legislative elections took place on 12 and 19 March 1978 to elect the sixth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. On 2 April 1974, President Georges Pompidou died. The non-Gaullist center-right leader Valéry Giscard d'Estaing ...

on 19 March 1978, Missoffe was elected to serve the 24th district of Paris in the sixth legislature of the National Assembly that first convened on 3 April 1978 and dissolved on 22 May 1981. She again served as a member on the Committee on Cultural, Family and Social Affairs between 1978 and 1981. Missoffe won reelection to represent the 24th district of Paris in the seventh National Assembly legislature at the

1981 French legislative election French legislative elections took place on 14 June and 21 June 1981 to elect the seventh National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. On 10 May 1981 François Mitterrand was elected President of France. He became the first Socialist to win this ...

held on 21 June 1981. As before, she was a member of the Committee on Cultural, Family and Social Affairs and remained a representative of her district until 4 January 1986. In 1981, Missoffe was elected councillor of the

, serving as one of its vice-presidents from 1982 to 1986. She was made the Rally for the Republic's adviser for Paris in 1983 and was appointed chair of the Parliamentary Association for the Freedom of Education. Missoffe was elected to represent the

constituency at the eighth National Assembly legislature at the

1986 French legislative election The French legislative elections took place on 16 March 1986 to elect the eighth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Contrary to other legislative elections of the Fifth Republic, the electoral system used was that of party-list proportio ...

on 16 March 1986. She was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of which she was its secretary and served on the National Assembly delegation for planning. Missoffe resigned on 30 September 1986, after she was elected to the

representing the Val-d'Oise department. She was a member of the Social Affairs Committee, the Parliamentary Delegation for Demographic Problems and the National Committee for Retired and Elderly Persons. Missoffe stood down as a senator in September 1995, having decided not to stand for reelection. She made public speeches in support of bills to deal with unemployment and getting back into work and the formation of the French drug agency. Missoffe authored several articles in newspapers, and she was appointed

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Missoffe, Helene 1927 births 2015 deaths Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians Politicians from Paris Senators of Val-d'Oise Women members of the Senate (France) 20th-century French women politicians 21st-century French women politicians French Senators of the Fifth Republic Women members of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Officiers of the Légion d'honneur