Today's Date:

Born on 18 June 1947 in Frelinghien (Nord)

Married, one child

Career

• Trade union and campagning career

  After studying at Valentine Labbé technical lycée in Lille, she worked as a secretary from 1964 to 1975.
  Elected a union delegate for the first time in 1968, she became a member of the Executive Committee of the department organization of the CGT (Confédération générale du travail) in 1973.
  She became department branch secretary of the Union des Femmes françaises in 1976, a post she held for fourteen years. She is now its honorary chair.

• Political career

  Michelle Demessine joined the Parti communiste français in 1970, being elected a member of the Nord department committee in 1977 and then of the party's bureau, of which she remains a member.

• Elected offices

  Michelle Demessine was appointed a member of the Regional Economic and Social Committee in 1983 by the Prime Minister, as someone with expertise. Her appointment was renewed until 1995.
  Elected Senator for Nord in 1992, she is a member of the Senate's Social Affairs Committee and European Affairs Delegation and secretary of the study group on drugs.
  She was elected a municipal councillor for Houplines in 1995. Appointed Minister of State with responsibility for Tourism in June 1997 until May 2002.

• Published works

  In 1985, with Annie Bocquet, a historian, and Nicole Gadrey, a sociologist at Lille I University, she was joint author of a book about four generations of women in Nord entitled Femmes d'ici.
  Strongly committed to the defence of women's rights, she was, with her parliamentary group, the instigator of a Bill on parity and is an opponent of all attacks on abortion rights.
  She was a member of France's official delegation to the UN's fourth world conference on women in Beijing in her capacity as a member of parliament.
  She is a member of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional women's collective.