Marcelle Lentz-Cornette (2 March 1927 – 29 January 2008) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish politician for the

Christian Social People's Party The Christian Social People's Party ( lb, Chrëschtlech Sozial Vollekspartei, french: Parti populaire chrétien-social, german: Christlich Soziale Volkspartei), abbreviated to CSV or PCS, is the largest political party in Luxembourg. The party f ...

(CSV). Outside politics, she was a schoolteacher.

Political career

Marcelle Lentz-Cornette was born in

Niederkorn Niederkorn () is a town in the Communes of Luxembourg, commune of Differdange, in south-western Luxembourg, on the Chiers river (), from which it takes its name. As of March 31, 2020, the town has a population of 7,272. Niederkorn is home to FC P ...

, in the southern commune of Differdange. She entered the communal council of

Sanem Sanem ( lb, Suessem ; german: Sassenheim) is a commune and town in south-western Luxembourg. It is part of the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette. The administrative centre and largest town is Belvaux. , the town of Sanem, which lies in the north of th ...

in 1968, and remained there until 1985, in addition to holding the position of '' échevin'' (1970–1980) in the commune's administration. Lentz-Cornette was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

in 1979. She served only one term (until 1984), having become one of Luxembourg's six Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in 1980, replacing Jean Spautz. Lentz-Cornette sat in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

for two terms, including one full term, until 1989. During this time, she became friend with Otto von Habsburg and Simone Veil. In that year, she joined the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up o ...

, of which she remained a member until 1999. During one of her official mission in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...

experienced her blunt and rather undiplomatic way of expressing her strong opinion on human rights and democracy. She served two more spells in Sanem's communal council (1997–1999, 2001–2003), before retiring. Beside this, Marcelle Lentz-Cornette dedicated time and personal money to improve health care conditions in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

. Marcelle Lentz-Cornette is also recognized as one of the Luxembourg politicians to have encouraged, protected and pushed Jean-Claude Juncker in his political career from the beginning. In 2003, Lentz-Cornette remaining completely faithful to the USA since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and defended the war against

Sadam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, though this was not in line with

Juncker Juncker is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Juncker (singer), full name Christian Juncker, Danish singer and songwriter *Henry Damian Juncker (1809–1868), French-born Roman Catholic prelate and first Bishop of Alton, Illinois ...

's cautious distance with the US offensive. From this episode, their long political connivance was damaged. On September 28, 2013 Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, her "son in politics" and the Mayor of Sanem launched a square in new city Belval named Place Marcelle Lentz-Cornette.

Private life

Marcelle Lentz-Cornette was married to doctor Albert Lentz (1927–2017) . She is the aunt and godmother of Guy Lentz, coordinator for International and European Energy issues at the Government of Luxembourg. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lentz-Cornette, Marcelle Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Councillors in Sanem Christian Social People's Party politicians Luxembourgian educators 1927 births 2008 deaths People from Differdange Christian Social People's Party MEPs 20th-century women MEPs for Luxembourg MEPs for Luxembourg 1979–1984 MEPs for Luxembourg 1984–1989 Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany