Roger Karoutchi (born 26 August 1951) is a French teacher and politician who has been serving as the first Vice President of the Senate since 2020. He previously served as the French Ambassador to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

'Karoutchi ambassadeur auprès de l'OCDE,' 29 June 2009,

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...

/ref> and as Secretary of State to the

French Prime Minister The prime minister of France (french: link=no, Premier ministre français), officially the prime minister of the French Republic, is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister i ...

, with responsibility for Relations with

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Early life

Karoutchi was born in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

into a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

family. His ancestors were Livornese Jews (Grana) from Italy who had settled in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in the

18th century The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trad ...

. He received a master's degree from the

Sciences Po Aix Sciences Po Aix, also referred to as Institut d'Études Politiques (IEP) d'Aix-en-Provence, is a '' Grande École'' of political studies located in Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France. It is associated with Aix-Marseille University and is par ...

Career

Karoutchi became a history teacher, first in Goussainville, and then in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, teaching from 1975 to 1985. He continued his political activity, which he had started at the age of 16, during that period, being a national delegate of the

Rassemblement pour la République The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 ...

(RPR) from 1981 to 1986. At that time, Karoutchi joined the office of

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financi ...

, the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, eventually becoming Séguin's chief of staff when he became president of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. Karoutchi 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 1997 to 1999 and Senator from

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

from 1999 to 2007. Karoutchi was very active in the 2007 presidential campaign of

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 ...

, with whom he has a close personal relationship. From 2009 to 2011, Karoutchi served as the French Ambassador to the

. As part of a reorganization of 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 ...

(later Republicans) leadership under their chairman

Jean-François Copé Jean-François Copé (; born 5 May 1964) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Meaux since 1995 with an interruption from 2002 to 2005. He was Government Spokesman between 2002 and 2007, when assumed other tenures in the government—inclu ...

in January 2013, Karoutchi became – alongside Henri de Raincourt,

Jean-Claude Gaudin Jean-Claude Gaudin (; born 8 October 1939) is a French politician for The Republicans. He served as the Mayor of Marseille from 1995 to 2020. He was a member of the National Assembly of France from Bouches-du-Rhône from 1978 to 1989 and has be ...

Brice Hortefeux Brice Hortefeux (born 11 May 1958) is a conservative French politician. He was Minister of the Interior, Overseas Territories and Territorial collectivities. He was previously Minister for Labour, Labour Relations, the Family, Solidarity and Ur ...

Christian Estrosi Christian Paul Gilbert Estrosi (born 1 July 1955) is a French sportsman and politician who has served as Mayor of Nice since 2017, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2016. A former professional motorcyclist, he served as a government m ...

and

Gérard Longuet Gérard Longuet (; born 24 February 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French conservative politician who has served as a member of the Senate from 2001 to 2011 and again since 2012, representing Meuse. He served as Minister of ...

– one of the party’s six vice-presidents.

Political positions

In the 2012 leadership election of the

(UMP), Karoutchi endorsed

. In the Republicans' 2016 presidential primaries, Karoutchi endorsed Sarkozy as the party's candidate for the office of

President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...

. Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, he publicly declared his support for

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 ...

as the Republicans’ candidate.

Political career

Governmental function Secretary of State for Relations with Parliament : 2007–2009. Electoral mandates ''European Parliament'' Member of

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 ...

: 1997-1999 (Became senator of

in 1999). ''Senate of France'' Senator of

: 1999-2007 (Became secretary of State in 2007). Reelected in 2004. ''Regional Council'' Vice-president of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France : 1994–1998. Regional councillor of Ile-de-France : Since 1992. Reelected in 1998, 2004. ''Municipal Council'' Deputy-mayor of

Villeneuve-la-Garenne Villeneuve-la-Garenne () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Île-de-France region. History The commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne was created on 9 ...

: Since 2008. Municipal councillor of

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

: 1989–1995. Municipal councillor of

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the Parisian area, located from its Kilometre zero, centre. It is a Subprefectures in ...

: 1995–2001.

Personal life

In January 2009, Karoutchi publicly announced that he is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. As such, he was the first French Minister to come out while in office.Paul Parant, 'Primaires UMP : Karoutchi perd la région Ile-de-France',

Têtu (French for "stubborn") is the main LGBTQIA magazine published in France. It was subtitled in French ( en, the magazine of gays and lesbians) until 2007, and reaffirmed itself as a men's magazine since then. As of December, 2012, its certified ...

, 22 March 200

/ref>

References

Biography

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karoutchi, Roger 1951 births Living people People from Casablanca 20th-century Moroccan Jews Moroccan emigrants to France Jewish French politicians Union of Democrats for the Republic politicians Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Republicans (France) politicians Government ministers of France Gaullism, a way forward for France French Senators of the Fifth Republic MEPs for France 1994–1999 MEPs for France 1999–2004 LGBT Jews LGBT conservatism Gay politicians LGBT people from Morocco OECD officials Sciences Po Aix alumni LGBT MEPs for France Senators of Hauts-de-Seine