Renée Wagener (born 1962) is a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish journalist, sociologist, historian, and former politician. She served for 10 years in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

as a member of

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

Early life and education

Renée Wagener was born in 1962 in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

, the capital of Luxembourg. Beginning in 1997, she pursued an advanced degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

, taking correspondence courses at the

University of Hagen The University of Hagen (, informally often referred to as FU Hagen) is a Public university, public research university that is primarily focused on distance education, distance teaching. While its main campus is located in Hagen, North Rhine- ...

in Germany. She wrote her master's thesis on "The History of Women's Right to Vote in Luxembourg" and her doctoral thesis on "The Jewish Community in Luxembourg, Between Recognition and Exclusion."

Career

Journalism and academia

Wagener works as a journalist for the weekly newspaper '' Woxx'', as well as for various media outlets as a freelance writer and announcer. She has also worked on historical research at the

University of Luxembourg The University of Luxembourg (French language, French: ''Université du Luxembourg''; German language, German: ''Universität Luxemburg''; Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish: ''Universitéit Lëtzebuerg'') is a Public university, public researc ...

. She writes primarily on

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

topics, as well as sociology and history. In 1997, she co-edited the history of women's rights in Luxembourg ''"Wenn nun wir Frauen auch das Wort ergreifen…": Frauen in Luxemburg 1880-1950''. She published a biography of the politician

Lydie Schmit Lydie Schmit (31 January 1939 – 7 April 1988) was a Luxembourgish politician and teacher. Schmit joined the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party in 1970. By 1974, she had been chosen as President of the party: a position that she held unti ...

, ''"Méi Sozialismus!" Lydie Schmit und die LSAP 1970-1988'', in 2013. In 2019, to mark 100 years of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

in Luxembourg, she co-curated an exhibit at the

National Museum of History and Art The National Museum of History and Art (, , ), abbreviated to MNHA, is a museum located in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is dedicated to displaying artworks and artefacts from all epochs of Luxembourg history. The museum is situa ...

about the history of voting rights in the country. In November 2019, after a meeting of the Council of Government of Luxembourg, she was appointed to the board of directors of the public radio station

radio 100,7 radio 100,7 is a public service radio station in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Broadcasting in the Luxembourgish language, the station's principal focus is on culture and information, although entertainment – in the form of a relatively wi ...

Politics

Wagener was a founding member of the Green Alternative Party, a precursor to the

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

party The Greens, in 1983. She served on the Luxembourg communal council from 1991 to 1994. In the 1994 Luxembourg general election, she was elected to the country's Chamber of Deputies, where she represented the Centre constituency as a member of The Greens. In May 1996, she introduced one of the country's earliest bills to legalize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, nearly two decades before the Chamber would go on to pass such a measure. She was reelected to the Chamber of Deputies in the

1999 Luxembourg general election General elections were held in Luxembourg on 13 June 1999,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1244 alongside European Parliament elections. The Christian Social People's Party remained the largest par ...

, but declined to run again in 2004, stepping down after the election that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagener, Renee 1962 births People from Luxembourg City Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) from Centre Councillors in Luxembourg City The Greens (Luxembourg) politicians Luxembourgian women writers Luxembourgian women journalists Luxembourgian feminists Academic staff of the University of Luxembourg 20th-century Luxembourgian historians Luxembourgian women historians University of Hagen alumni Living people 21st-century Luxembourgian women politicians 21st-century Luxembourgian politicians 21st-century Luxembourgian historians