Michèle Alliot-Marie

Michèle Yvette Marie-Thérèse Jeanne Honorine Alliot-Marie (; born 10 September 1946), known in France as MAM, is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. She is a member of the Republicans, part of the European People's Party. A member of all right-wing governments formed in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, she was the first woman in France to hold the portfolios of Defense (2002–2007), the Interior (2007–2009) and Foreign Affairs (2010–2011); she has also been in charge of Youth and Sports (1993–1995) and Justice (2009–2010), and was granted the honorary rank of Minister of State in her last two offices.

She resigned from government in 2011 due to her position during the Tunisian Revolution; one year later, in the 2012 French legislative elections, she lost her seat as Deputy (MP) for the 6th Constituency of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. She became a member of the European Parliament in 2014. She remains Deputy Mayor of Saint-Jean-de-Luz as well as Vice President of the National Council of The Republicans.

Alliot-Marie was the last President of the Rally for the Republic (1999–2002), an incarnation of the Gaullist party, and was the first woman to chair a major French political party. She has remained a leading Gaullist after the RPR merged into the UMP and was seen as a rival to Nicolas Sarkozy before and after his election as president in 2007, although direct confrontation was always avoided.

Alliot-Marie is a law and political science scholar. Her companion is Patrick Ollier, Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament in the Fillon II government; both were ministers simultaneously for a few months in 2010–2011, the first time a couple ever sat in a French government.

Early life

Michèle Marie was born on 10 September 1946 in Villeneuve-le-Roi (then in the Seine-et-Oise, now in the Val-de-Marne department since 1968). Her father is Bernard Marie (1918-2015), who was a famous international rugby referee, the French National Assembly Deputy for the Pyrénées-Atlantiques' 4th constituency (1967-1981, department named Basses-Pyrénées until 1969), and the Mayor of Biarritz (1977-1991); and her mother is Renée Leyko and is of Polish descent.

She attended the High School of the Folie Saint James in Neuilly-sur-Seine and then began her studies at the Paris Law Faculty in the now-defunct University of Paris, continuing at the in that same university. After then- Education Minister Edgar Faure, political science, and legal history at both Panthéon-Assas University, earning a Doctor of Law degree there in 1973 with her thesis ''Salarié actionnaire'' (English: "Employee Shareholders"), and Pantheon-Sorbonne University, where she earned a Doctorate in Political Science in 1982 and defended her thesis ''Décisions politiques et structures administratives'' (English: "Political Decisions and Administrative Structures"). During her university years, she was a member of the right-wing student union ''UNI''.

She also holds a ''Certificat d'aptitude à la profession d'avocat'' (English: "Certificate of Aptitude for Practicing Law"), also known as a CAPA; a certificate in African laws and economics; and a master's degree in ethnology. Before her career in politics, she was a senior lecturer at the Paris-I University (Panthéon-Sorbonne), and also spent some time practicing law. She is also a recipient of the Faculty of Law and Economics.

University, private sector, and early political career

During her university studies, Alliot-Marie (then still known as Michèle Marie) began having a relationship with her then-law professor , who was also chief of staff to then- Education Minister (1968-1969) Edgar Faure