Marie-Josée Roig (; 12 May 1938 – 7 August 2024), ''née'' Méliorat, was a French politician. RPR and later

UMP UMP may refer to: Science * Ultra metal-poor star, refers to a type of star with extremely low levels of heavier elements * Uniformly most powerful test, in statistical hypothesis testing * Uridine monophosphate, a nucleotide * Utility maximizat ...

Mayor of

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

from 1995 to 2014, she was also president of the ''

Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Avignon Grand Avignon (full name ''Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Avignon'') is the ''communauté d'agglomération'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Avignon. It is located in the Vaucluse and the Gard departments, in the Provenc ...

'' from the time when it was established in 2001 until 2014. Roig was

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

for Vaucluse from 1993 to 1997, and then from 2002 until her entry into the government on 31 March 2004 as Minister of Family and Childhood. She later became Minister Delegate for the Interior from 29 November 2004 to 31 May 2005, before once again finding herself on the National Assembly's benches for

Vaucluse's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of the Vaucluse (French language, French: ''Première circonscription de Vaucluse'') is a French legislative Constituency (France), constituency in the Vaucluse ''Departments of France, département''. Like the other 576 Fre ...

between 2007 and 2012.

Biography

Youth and training

Roig's mother was a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

, while her father was a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

for the regional daily newspaper '' L'Indépendant.'' She studied at the Faculty of Letters in Montpellier. She earned a ''licence'' in letters and a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

Romance philology Romance studies or Romance philology (; ; ; ; ; ; ) is an academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak Romance languages. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spa ...

. She began her career as a teacher of letters at the ''Lycée Alphonse-Daudet'' in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

Political career

Roig joined the RPR after it was created in 1976. She was elected as an Avignon municipal councillor in 1983 on Jean-Pierre Roux's list, becoming his assistant in charge of culture. Roig was elected deputy on the RPR ticket for the first time in 1993, in Vaucluse's 1st constituency, having run against Jean-Pierre Roux, a dissident right-wing candidate. Two years later, in June 1995, she was elected Mayor of Avignon. At the time of the

1997 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 25 May and 1 June 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly (France), National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. It was the consequence of President Jacques Chirac's decision to call the legislat ...

, Roig was standing for reelection. However, she was beaten by

Élisabeth Guigou Élisabeth Guigou (; born Élisabeth Vallier; 6 August 1946) is a French politician of the Socialist Party who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2002 until 2017, representing Seine-Saint-Denis' 9th constituency. Early life and ...

in a three-way race. Roig was reelected Mayor of Avignon in March 2001 in a race against Élisabeth Guigou, and yet again in March 2008. At the time of the

2002 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 9 and 16 June 2002, to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, in a context of political crisis. The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after h ...

, Roig won a deputy's seat with 58.36% of the vote in a race against Cécile Helle and was part of the UMP group, a newly created political party. It was furthermore at her side that

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

chose to announce publicly his candidacy for the presidency of the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. Roig was Minister of Family and Childhood from March to November 2004. On 29 November 2004, in the wake of a government shuffle after

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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

's election to the UMP's presidency, she was named Minister Delegate for the Interior, alongside

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

, replacing

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 ...

. On 31 May 2005, Roig's functions came to an end with the government's resignation following the result of the

2005 French European Constitution referendum A referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held in France on 29 May 2005 to decide whether the French government should ratify the proposed constitution of the European Union. The result was a victory for the "no" cam ...

. At the time of the

2007 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the presidential election run-off on 6 May. 7,639 candidates stood for 577 seats, including Fran ...

, Roig managed to get herself reelected deputy of Vaucluse's 1st constituency with 56.71% of the vote in a race against Michèle Fournier-Armand. Roig appeared in last position on

Thierry Mariani Thierry Mariani (; born 8 August 1958) is a French politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He previously served as Minister of Transport (France), Minister in charge of Transport under the Ministry of the Ecol ...

's Vaucluse list for regional elections in March 2010 in

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

. In January 2012, Roig publicly announced her intention not to represent herself at the June 2012 legislative elections in Vaucluse's 1st constituency. She indicated, rather, that she would be a candidate for her own succession in the Avignon 2014 municipal elections, but then changed her mind in December 2012. After it came to light that Roig's son had been hired as a parliamentary assistant, working in the last five years of her last legislature, and given the suspicions of fictitious jobs, which she denied, Roig announced on 21 October 2013 that she would not have her name on entrepreneur Bernard Chaussegros's list (Chaussegros had been invested by the UMP to lead a future list with a view to the 2014 Avignon municipal elections).

Later years and death

After leaving politics, Roig lived outside the public eye in neighbouring

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

on 7 August 2024, at the age of 86.Décès de Marie-Josée Roig, ancienne maire d’Avignon et ministre de Jacques Chirac

Summary of mandates

* 14 March 1983 – 19 March 1989: Assistant to the Mayor of

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

* 20 March 1989 – 25 June 1995: Municipal councillor of Avignon, Vaucluse * 2 April 1993 – 21 April 1997: Deputy for Vaucluse's 1st constituency * 25 June 1995 – 5 April 2014: Mayor of Avignon, Vaucluse * 16 March 1998 – 15 November 2002: Regional councillor of

* 1 January 2001 – 5 April 2014: President of the

* 19 June 2002 – 30 April 2004: Deputy for Vaucluse's 1st constituency (nomination as member of the government) * 31 March 2004 – 29 November 2004: Minister of Family and Childhood * 29 November 2004 – 31 May 2005: Minister Delegate for the Interior * 20 June 2007 – 20 June 2012: Deputy for Vaucluse's 1st constituency

Distinctions

— ''Officière de la Légion d'honneur''; decorated by the President of the Republic,

on 19 January 2007.

References

External links

Marie-Josée Roig at the French National Assembly's website.

Roig's mandates at the French National Assembly's website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roig, Marie-Josee 1938 births 2024 deaths Members of Parliament for Vaucluse Women government ministers of France Mayors of Avignon Women mayors of places in France Rally for the Republic politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Popular Right People from Perpignan Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur 20th-century French women politicians 21st-century French women politicians Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Women members of the National Assembly (France) French women in politics People from Pyrénées-Orientales Officers of the Legion of Honour