Nora Berra (born 21 January 1963, in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

) is a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and politician who served as Secretary of State for Seniors (2009-2010) and as Secretary of State for Health (2010-2012) in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

from 14 November 2010 to 10 May 2012. From 2015 until 2017, she was a member of the Republicans.

Early life and education

Born as the daughter of an

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

n soldier and Algerian mother, She was 5th child in a family of 11,Diversity News: Portrait of Nora Berra, 5th June 2009 (fr)
/ref> Berra was raised in a

Gaullist Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle withd ...

family. Berra studied at the

Collège-lycée Ampère The Collège-lycée Ampère is a famous school located in the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon. History It was founded in 1519 by members of the Brotherhood of the Trinity. It was then known under the name of Collège de la Trinité. Under this name it ...

, before continuing with medicine in

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

. In 1994 and 1996, she gave birth to her two children.

Early career

Between 1999 and 2009, Berra worked in various pharmaceutical laboratories around Lyon, including

Boehringer Ingelheim C.H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. is the parent company of the Boehringer Ingelheim group, which was founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. As of 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical ...

(1999-2001) and

Bristol Myers Squibb The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...

(2001-2006), where she conducted research on

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later symptoms may include abnormal ...

and

Hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

Political career

From 2001 until 2008, Berra was a municipal councillor in

Neuville-sur-Saône Neuville-sur-Saône (, literally ''Neuville on Saône'') is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Surrounding communes * Genay * Montanay * Fleurieu-sur-Saône * Albigny-sur-Saône Population ...

, at which point she was elected to the Municipal Council of

. In the June 2009

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

, Berra was fifth on the UMP list in South-East France, and was elected to 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 the French South-East constituency. She eventually decided against taking up her seat, instead joining the government of

. On June 23, 2009, Berra entered Fillon's government as Secretary of State for the Elderly, under the leadership of successive ministers

Xavier Darcos Xavier Darcos (born 14 July 1947) is a French politician, scholar, civil servant and former Minister of Labour. An ''agrégé'' professor in literature and general inspector of the National Education system, he has been Mayor of Périgueux, ...

and

Éric Woerth Éric Woerth (born 29 January 1956) is a French politician of The Republicans (LR). Early life and education Woerth was born in Creil, Oise. He studied at Panthéon-Assas University, HEC School of Management and Institut d'Études Politiques ...

at the Ministry of Labour, Social Relations, Family and Solidarity. On November 14, 2010, Berra was promoted to state secretary for health after a cabinet shift, this time under minister

Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to 2 ...

. Following her departure from government, Berra was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 2012 until 2014. In parliament, she served on the

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, e ...

. Running for the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

primary election for the

municipal election In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

of Lyon of 2014, Berra was eliminated in the first round June 2, 2013 by uniting 9.41% of the vote. She was elected in 2015 as a member of the

Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes The Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (french: Conseil régional d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) is the deliberative assembly of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeast-central France France (), officially the French Republic ...

on a list led by

Laurent Wauquiez Laurent Timothée Marie Wauquiez (; born 12 April 1975) is a French politician who has presided over the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes since 2016. He is a member of The Republicans (LR), which he led from 2017 to 2019 following the ...

.En désaccord avec la ligne de Laurent Wauquiez, Nora Berra quitte LR
''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', December 13, 2017. In the Republicans' 2016 primaries, Berra publicly endorsed

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

as the party's candidate for the

2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...

; when Sarkozy was eliminated in the first round, she supported

instead. When Laurent Wauquiez won the Republicans' 2017 leadership election, she left the party in protest. In the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

, Berra was a candidate for the

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a Centrism, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right list of political parties in France, political party in France and former Electoral alliance ...

(UDI). Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Berra publicly declared her support for incumbent

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

and criticized the Republicans’ candidate

Valérie Pécresse Valérie Pécresse (; born Roux, 14 July 1967) is a French politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Île-de-France since 2015. A member of The Republicans (LR), she previously served as Minister of Higher Education and ...

.Defections sap conservative contender Pécresse in French presidential race
''

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-M ...

'', 11 February 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berra, Nora 1963 births Living people The Republicans (France) politicians Physicians from Lyon French people of Algerian descent Union for a Popular Movement MEPs MEPs for South-East France 2009–2014 21st-century women MEPs for France Regional councillors of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Politicians from Lyon