Jeanne Barseghian
Jeanne Barseghian in 2020
Mayor of Strasbourg
Assumed office
4 July 2020
Preceded byRoland Ries
Personal details
BornSuresnes, France
Political partyEurope Ecology – The Greens
Alma materParis Nanterre University
University of Strasbourg

Jeanne Barseghian (French pronunciation: [ʒan baʁseɡjɑ̃]) is a French politician who is the mayor of Strasbourg and has been a member of its city council. She has been a member of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) since 2013. She was elected in 2014 to the City Council of Strasbourg, and to the Eurométropole de Strasbourg Council. She was elected mayor of Strasbourg after she successfully led the EELV list in the 2020 municipal election there.

Early life

Barseghian was born in Suresnes to a French family of Armenian descent. Her great-grandfather was the Armenian intellectual Sarkis Barseghian,[1] and her great-grandmother was the writer and Member of the Armenian Parliament Perchuhi Partizpanyan-Barseghyan.[2][3]

Barseghian studied law at Paris Nanterre University, specializing first in Franco-German law. She then studied environmental law at the Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, and trained as an ecological advisor at the Institut Eco-Conseil in Strasbourg.[4]

Career

Barseghian moved to Strasbourg in 2002, to study environmental law.[1] There she became involved in environmental and ecological activism with groups like Alsace Nature (fr).[5][6] After she completed her legal studies, she advised companies, communities and local groups on economic, social and environmental issues. She worked on topics like the development of sustainable tourism around the Rhine, including for the Alsace Regional Council.[7][8]

In 2009, Barseghian was a founder of a branch of the Sevak Association, an Armenian diaspora organization named for Paruyr Sevak.[9][10]

In 2012, Barseghian resumed working for the Alsace Regional Council, consulting for the environmental caucus. She also worked as a public health consultant for hospitals.[11]

In 2013, Barseghian joined the EELV, in advance of the 2014 French municipal elections. She was placed in 4th position on the EELV list in the municipal elections, and was named co-chair of the platform committee.[12] She won a seat in the election, becoming a councilor at Strasbourg City Hall and the Strasbourg Eurometropolis.[8] There she served as a member of the environmental and waste reduction committees.[1]

In October 2019, Barseghian was named first on the greens' party list for the 2020 municipal elections in Strasbourg.[13] In the first round, held on March 15, 2020, she placed first with 27.87% of the vote, substantially ahead of competitors including Alain Fontanel (fr) and Catherine Trautmann.[14] Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns the second round of the election was postponed to June 28, 2020, when Barseghian faced Fontanel and Trautmann, whose lists had merged with other significant competitors in the first round.[15] Barseghian won the second round with 41.7% of the vote.[14]

Barseghian became mayor of Strasbourg on July 4, 2020. This made her the first mayor of the city representing the green movement, and also the first whose family was not from the Alsace Region.[1] Barseghian also became the first vice president of the Eurométropole de Strasbourg.

In her first speech as mayor, Barseghian declared an ecological state of emergency, and reiterated her commitment to various measures that she had campaigned on including the demineralization of the city center, the creation of new parks and cycling paths, the exclusion of diesel vehicles from the city center by 2025 (which had also been a policy of her predecessor, Roland Ries), and giving aid to feminist associations.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Jakubowicz, Lucas (2 February 2020). "Jeanne Barseghian, la discrète". Décideurs Magazine (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Auteur : BERDJOUHI Barseghian" (in French). ARAM. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. ↑ Berdjouhi, ed. (2004). "Armen Barseghian traduira en français le récit d'exil de sa mère paru en arménien dans les années 30" (PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Caroline Alonso Alvarez; Nicolas Kaspar (3 February 2020). "À la rencontre de Jeanne Barseghian, candidate EELV aux municipales de Strasbourg". Pokaa (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Municipales2020 - Jeanne Barseghian - Strasbourg" (in French). Institut Montaigne - Municipales 2020. 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Municipales 2020 à Strasbourg : qui est Jeanne Barseghian, la nouvelle maire écologiste". France 3 Grand Est (in French). 28 June 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  7. ↑ "Le conseil de l'ess de Strasbourg fonctionne comme un "fabrique de politiques pbuliques"". RTES (in French). 27 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Jeanne Barseghian, la Discrète cheffe d'orchestre". CUEJ. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Qui sommes-nous?" (in French). Sevak. 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Voyage en Anatolie - Le film" (in French). 28 September 2016. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Entretien avec Jeanne Barseghian" (in French). Strasbourg ecolo citoyenne. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  12. ↑ Marty, Marie (19 December 2013). "Municipales : les écolos ont leur " shadow cabinet "". Rue 88 Strasbourg (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  13. ↑ Wilcke, Nils (28 June 2020). "Municipales 2020 à Strasbourg : Qui est Jeanne Barseghian, la nouvelle maire écologiste de la capitale alsacienne ?". 20 minutes (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Résultats par commune" (in French). Government of France. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  15. ↑ Gérard, Jean-François (2 June 2020). "Municipales : accord de dernière minute Fontanel / Vetter, face aux écologistes et au PS". Rue 88 Strasbourg (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2020.
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