Questiaux, Nicole (1931—)

French politician. Born Nicole Françoise Valayer in Nantes, France, in 1931 (one source cites 1930); graduated from the University of Paris; studied at the École Nationale d'Administration, 1953–55; married Paul Questiaux, in 1951; children: two.

Served on France's Council of State as full member (1963–74); was a founding member of the new French Socialist Party (1971); served as minister of state for national solidarity under Prime Minister François Mitterand; served on the board of the European Human Rights Foundation, and as its president (1998).

Selected writings:

Traité du social.

The daughter of an engineer, Nicole Questiaux was born in Nantes, France, in 1931, and graduated from the University of Paris with a degree in political science. She then studied for another two years at the École Nationale d'Administration. Questiaux began her political career in 1955, as an auditeur to the Council of State, and she became a full member of the Council in 1963. She served there until 1974, taking particular interest in elderly affairs. Questiaux was prominent in the launching of the new Socialist Party (1971), the executive committee of which she later became a member (1979). She was also a member of the left-wing Comité d'Etudes Regionales, Économiques et Sociales (CERES). In 1981, under the administration of François Mitterand, she was named Minister of State for National Solidarity, a post she filled until 1982. The following year, she became president of the 4th Subsection of the Council of State, a position she still held at the close of the century.

Apart from French politics, Questiaux served as a member of the board of the European Human Rights Foundation, a charitable foundation set up by the European Commission of the European Union, and acted as its president in 1998. She also became a member of France's Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l'Homme, a human-rights organization. She has been married to Paul Questiaux since 1951, and is the mother of two children.

sources:

The International Who's Who 1998–99. London: Europa, 1998.

Uglow, Jennifer S., ed. The International Dictionary of Women's Biography. NY: Continuum, 1985.

Don Amerman , freelance writer, Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania