Samia Ghali (, ; born 10 June 1968) is a French politician who served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

from 2008 to 2020. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS), she also held the mayorship of the 8th sector of

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, which comprises the 15th and 16th arrondissements, from 2008 to 2017. Ghali, who has been a deputy to successive Marseille Mayors Michèle Rubirola and

Benoît Payan Benoît Payan (; born 31 January 1978) is a French politician who has served as Mayor of Marseille since 2020. He was a member of the Socialist Party (PS) until 2020. Early life Payan was born and raised in the Pont-de-Vivaux neighbourhood in ...

since 2020, has also held a seat in the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône since 2021.

Early life

Samia Ghali was born on 10 June 1968 in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

.Pauline Pelissier
QUI EST SAMIA GHALI, LA "MARIANNE DES QUARTIERS NORD DE MARSEILLE" ?
''

Grazia ''Grazia'' (; ; stylized in all caps) is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, In ...

'', 14 October 2013."Marseille: Samia Ghali, une "vie de misère""
''

L'Express (, stylized in all caps) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre-right in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''R� ...

'' (in French), 14 October 2013. She grew up in Bassens and Campagne Lévêque, two council estates in Marseille, where she was raised by her Algerian-born grandparents. She received a Certificat d'Aptitude Professionnelle (CAP), or professional certificate, as a secretary and accountant.

Career

Ghali became active in politics at the age of 16. She was elected to the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Marseille in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, she was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

. She held her seat until 2020, when she resigned upon her appointment as second Deputy Mayor of Marseille under Mayor Michèle Rubirola. Ghali also served as the 8th sector mayor of Marseille ( 15th and 16th arrondissements). In 2012, she suggested the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

should be sent to the neighbourhoods of Northern Marseille to put an end to drug-trafficking. In June 2015, her own chauffeur was arrested by police in a drug-trafficking raid in La Castellane."Samia Ghali, «stupéfaite» après l’arrestation de son chauffeur"
''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' (in French), 15 June 2015. She said she was "shocked" and "astounded". In the 2020 municipal election, Ghali ran for Mayor of Marseille, though the Socialist Party's official stance was to support the ''Printemps marseillais'' ("Marseille Spring") coalition headed by

Europe Ecology – The Greens The Ecologists – Europe Ecology The Greens (), commonly known as The Ecologists (, LE) and formerly as Europe Ecology The Greens ( , EELV ) until 2023, is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of th ...

candidate Michèle Rubirola.

, the city's Socialist leader, accused Ghali of splitting the left-wing vote. Later that year, after Rubirola's resignation from the mayorship, Ghali's contingent of eight councillors voted in favour of First Deputy Mayor Payan becoming the new mayor. From 2004 to 2008, Ghali also held one of the vice-presidencies of the

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (, ) is the deliberative assembly of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The regional council is made up of 123 regional councillors elected for 6 years by direct universal suffrage ...

under President

Michel Vauzelle Michel Vauzelle (; born 15 August 1944) is a French politician who served as Keeper of the Seals of France, Minister of Justice under Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy from 1992 to 1993. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he also served as ...

. Since 2021, she has been a member of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône for the canton of Marseille-4."Départementales dans les Bouches-du-Rhône : Samia Ghali et Azad Kazandjian élus dans le canton Marseille 4"
''

La Provence ''La Provence'' is a French language daily newspaper published in Marseille, France. History and profile In 1997 ''La Provence'' was created in Marseille from the merger of two daily newspapers, ''Le Provençal'' of former Interior Minister Ga ...

'' (in French), 28 June 2021.

Personal life

Her second husband is Franck Dumontel, a political administrator. She has four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghali, Samia 1968 births Living people Politicians from Marseille 21st-century French women politicians French senators of the Fifth Republic French people of Algerian-Berber descent Socialist Party (France) politicians Women members of the Senate (France) Senators of Bouches-du-Rhône Mayors of places in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French city councillors Regional councillors of France Departmental councillors (France)