Christiane Taubira

Biography

Christiane Marie Taubira was born on February 2, 1952 in Cayenne (French Guiana). She is a French left-wing politician and former French Justice Minister. Taubira, who used to teach economics, is the former director of the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts of French Guiana (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers). She co-founded the Caricoop agricultural association for French Guiana (Caribbean confederation for agricultural cooperation) that she directed from 1982 to 1985. She was then appointed Director of the Technical Assistance to Artisanal Fishing in French Guiana before running the Guiana Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Office in 1990. In 1993, Taubira founded the Guianese party Walwari and was elected Member of the National Assembly of France for French Guiana. She was re-elected in 1997, 2002 and 2007. In 1994, she was elected Member of European Parliament. In 2002, she was the candidate of Parti Radical de Gauche (PRG) (left-wing Party) for the presidential election. Christiane Taubira gave her name to the 21st May 2001 law that recognizes the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as a crime against humanity. She published a book “Slavery told to my daughter”. In June 2012, after the election of François Hollande as President of the Republic of France, she was appointed Justice Minister, Keeper of the Seals. As Justice Minister, she has been defending more than twenty texts in French Parliament. In 2013, she introduced the law that legalized same-sex marriage in France. That law allows same-sex couples to adopt children. The same year, she passed a bill that created a national General Prosecutor specialized in financial matters. In 2014, she reformed the criminal justice, establishing individualized and efficient sentences. Opposed to the draft bill on deprivation of nationality, Taubira quit the French government on January 27th 2016. Christiane Taubira is a woman of convictions who is strongly committed to civil rights and women’s rights. In 2013, she published an essay “Words of Freedom” in which she addressed discrimination and racism issues (Racism she’s been a victim of). In her last book, “Murmures à la Jeunesse”, she addresses the youth. Tackling the terrorist attacks France suffered in 2015, she argues that the Republic has within itself the resources to fight terrorism. Taubira’s first novel, Gran Balan (Paris: Plon) was published in September 2020. Deeply fond of poesy and literature, she is a great fan of jazz (Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Arethla Franklin are some of her idols). A divorced woman, she has four children and two grand-children.