Jean-Victor Castor (born 21 April 1962) is a French politician who was elected to represent

French Guiana's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of French Guiana is one of two French National Assembly constituencies in the French Guiana ''département''. Located in the eastern third of the department, the constituency contains the capital city of Cayenne. The consti ...

in the 2022 legislative election. He is a member of the

Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement The Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement (french: Mouvement de décolonisation et d'émancipation sociale, MDES) is a pro-independence political party in French Guiana. Platform The principal platform of the party is the demand for in ...

(MDES), a pro-independence party. He succeeded

Lénaïck Adam Lénaïck Adam (19 February 1992) is a French politician of Renaissance (RE) who was a member of the National Assembly from 2018 until 2022, representing department of French Guiana. Early life Adam was born on 19 February 1992, in Saint-Lauren ...

, a member of

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...

Early life and background

Castor was born in

Sinnamary Sinnamary is a town and commune on the coast of French Guiana, between Kourou and Iracoubo. Sinnamary was the second France, French settlement founded in French Guiana: the town was founded in 1664. Sinnamary lies on the Sinnamary River and is ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

on 21 April 1962. Born to two teachers, Castor was the seventh born child of a family of eight children. Castor studied in

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

during his youth, and at age 16 became involved in student activism. He later studied in

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...

before returning to Guiana, where he would campaign for the Union of Guyanese Students (UEG).

Career

Activism and journalism

In 1985, he was one of the founders of ''

Rot Kozé The Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement (french: Mouvement de décolonisation et d'émancipation sociale, MDES) is a pro-independence political party in French Guiana. Platform The principal platform of the party is the demand for in ...

'', which was created shortly after the founding of the

(MDES). Castor later organized with the Union of Guyanese Workers and the Unified Trade Union Movement. In 2012, he became secretary-general of the MDES.

National Assembly of France

In the 2022 legislative election, Castor ran to represent

in 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 repre ...

. In the first round of the election, he came in second place with 17.30% of the vote, with Yvane Goua of

La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; ; "France Unbowed") is a left-wing populist political party in France, launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aim ...

coming in first with 20.77% of the vote. As a candidate, he was supported by the

New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party (french: Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste , abbreviated NPA) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements o ...

(NPA).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castor, Jean-Victor Living people 1962 births People from Sinnamary French political candidates Members of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for French Guiana 21st-century French politicians French trade unionists