Cemile Giousouf ( gr, Τζεμιλέ Γιουσούφ; born 5 May 1978) is a German politician; she was the first ever

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), serving as Member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

for one legislative term from 2013 until 2017.

Early life and education

Giousouf was born on 5 May 1978 in Leverkusen to ethnic Turkish

Gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign worker, foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are ge ...

parents, who immigrated in the 1970s from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where they lived as a minority in

Western Thrace Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, �υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...

. Soon after her birth, Giousouf was sent back to her uncle in Greece. At the age of two, Giousouf returned to her family in Germany. Giousouf has a brother. The members of her immigrant family spoke Turkish as well as Greek at home as their native languages, denoting their ethnic ancestry and original nationality, as well as German; they are naturalised and second-generation citizens. In addition to her German citizenship, Giousouf also holds Greek citizenship. Following the completion of her high school education in Leverkusen with the

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, Giousouf studied political science, social science and

Islamic science Science in the medieval Islamic world was the science developed and practised during the Islamic Golden Age under the Umayyads of Córdoba, the Abbadids of Seville, the Samanids, the Ziyarids, the Buyids in Persia, the Abbasid Caliphate and ...

at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

Professional career

In 2008, Giousouf was employed as consultant in the State Ministry of Generations, Family, Women and Integration of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

under the leadership of State Minister

Armin Laschet Armin Laschet (; born 18 February 1961) is a German politician who served as Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 June 2017 to 26 October 2021. He served as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 22 January 2021 to 3 ...

. At the ministry, Giousouf was in charge of the "Women with Immigration History" dossier. From 2009, Giousouf served as consultant in the Department of Integration at the Ministry of Integration and Social Welfare of the same state.

Political career

During her university years, Giousouf was active in the German-Turkish Forum, a subordinate organization of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In 2008, Giousouf was elected vice chairperson of the organization's North Rhine-Westphalia branch, to which she belonged since 2004. Giousouf was also active in the CDU's several other local organizations as well as in the city administration of

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

. Giousouf entered CDU's federal-level organization in 2011, where she was active on integration matters. On 30 June 2012 Giousouf was elected to the executive board of CDU state organization in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2013, the local organization of CDU in

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

nominated Giousouf for the federal elections. In the next two preliminary inner-party elections, Giousouf was able to make her way for the federal election as direct candidate in the

Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat (capital city) is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns ...

District in September 2013. Giousouf became the first ever Muslim politician of the CDU to be elected into the Bundestag. In parliament, Giousouf was a member of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In this capacity, she was her parliamentary group’s rapporteur on state-funded scholarship schemes and the

validation of foreign studies and degrees The Validation or recognition of foreign studies and degrees is the process whereby a competent authority in one country formally recognises the value of a qualification from a foreign country. This can entail total or partial validation of foreign ...

Other activities

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

(KAS), Member of the Board of Trustees * Avicenna-Studienwerk, Member of the Board of Trustees * Council of Muslim Students and Academics (RAMSA), Member of the Board of Trustees * Green Helmets, Member of the Board of Trustees * Internationaler Bund (IB), Member of the Federal Counselling CommitteeFederal Counselling Committee
Internationaler Bund (IB).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giousouf, Cemile 1978 births People from Leverkusen German politicians of Turkish descent German people of Greek descent Greek people of Turkish descent Living people University of Bonn alumni German people of Turkish descent Female members of the Bundestag Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia German feminists German Muslims Greek Muslims 21st-century German women politicians 21st-century German civil servants Members of the Bundestag 2013–2017 Members of the Bundestag for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany