Lucette Michaux-Chevry (5 March 1929 – 9 September 2021)Lucette Michaux-Chevry, ancienne ministre de Jacques Chirac, est décédée
was a French politician, who served as

President of the Regional Council The following is a list of current presidents of the regional councils of France and the Corsican Assembly. List Since 2011, the Departmental Council of Mayotte has simultaneously exercised the competencies of a regional council. Since 2015, t ...

of the overseas department of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

between 1992 and 2004.Official page on the French senate website
/ref> She was nicknamed the "Iron Lady of the Caribbean." because she was "for a long time the strong woman of the department."

Life and work

Michaux-Chevry was born in 1929 in

Saint-Claude, Guadeloupe Saint-Claude is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe. It lies in the interior of southern Basse-Terre Island, just northeast of the capital city of Basse-Terre. Population Education Public preschools and primary schools i ...

, as the fourth of ten children, and completed her

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

studies at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

University in Paris. She was the first Guadeloupean woman to enter government service when she won her first election in 1959 becoming a municipal councilor for her town of Saint-Claude. She won just eight days after the birth of her son.

Political achievements

An ardent member of the Socialist Party, Michaux-Chevry supported French presidential candidate

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 ...

in 1981. She was elected to the post of Regional President in 1992 for the first time, then reelected in January 1993, and in 1995. She was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located ...

, Guadeloupe. She was elected to the

French senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

1995, and also in 1995, French president

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

named her an advisor. According to her obituary in Le Monde,

She did not abandon her native Guadeloupe, where she multiplied the mandates almost until the end of her life: she was in total three times mayor (Gourbeyre, then Basse-Terre), twice senator (from 1995 to 2011), twice deputy (from 1986 to 1993) and twice president of the region (from 1992 to 2004). In January 2019, she resigned from the presidency of the agglomeration community Grand Sud Caraïbe and announced, at nearly 90 years old, to put an end to her political career, causing an earthquake locally.

However, Michaux-Chevry did not leave politics totally. After she resigned her presidency post in 2019, she retained another position as deputy to the mayor of Basse-Terre. At the time, the mayor was her daughter

Marie-Luce Penchard Marie-Luce Penchard (born 14 February 1959, in Gourbeyre) is a French politician from Guadeloupe and member of the UMP. She is the daughter of Lucette Michaux-Chevry, the historical leader of the right in Guadeloupe and the former President o ...

Personal life

Lucette was married at a young age to printer Henri Michaux but became a widow when her two children were still young. Her daughter, Marie-Luce Penchard, became a minister under the Nicholas Sarkozy presidency, and like her mother, she has pursued a career in local and national politics.

Death and tributes

Michaux-Chevry died on 9 September 2021at her home in

Gourbeyre Gourbeyre is a commune in the French overseas region and department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is a suburb of the city of Basse-Terre. The commune of Gourbeyre was in the past a pivotal point in the defense of Guadeloupe's Bas ...

, Guadeloupe from throat cancer, at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaux-Chevry, Lucette 1929 births 2021 deaths Guadeloupean politicians Presidents of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe French Senators of the Fifth Republic University of Paris alumni Politicians of the French Fifth Republic Women members of the Senate (France) 20th-century French women politicians Black French politicians Women government ministers of France Senators of Guadeloupe People from Basse-Terre