Olga Zrihen

Olga Zrihen (Arabic: أولجا زريهان; Casablanca, January 10, 1953[1]) is a Moroccan-born Belgian politician and a member of the Parti Socialiste.

Olga Zrihen Zaari
Senator
In office
28 June 2007 – June 2011
Personal details
Born10 January 1953
Casablanca (Morocco)
NationalityBelgian (formerly French), Moroccan
Political partyParti Socialiste
ResidenceLa Louvière

Biography

Zrihen was born to a Jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco. At the age of 6, her family moved to Lille, France.[2] She has a degree in Germanic languages from the University of Mons-Hainaut, today the University of Mons.[3] Zrihen worked as a teacher of German and English between 1976 and 1991.[1]

Political career

Elected to the municipal council of La Louvière, Belgium, at the municipal elections in October 2000, by then as a French citizen. She was re-elected in 2006 and became deputy mayor in 2007.[4]

She became a member of the European Parliament in April 2001, not reelected in June 2004, this time after having acquired Belgian citizenship. A few months later though, she was coopted to the Belgian Senate to replace Philippe Busquin, who was elected to the European Parliament, and in 2007 she was elected to it.[5] She is a member of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians[6] and in March 2002 she supported an appeal in favour of Israeli membership of the European Union.[7][8]

Elected in 2009 as a Member of the Regional Parliament of Wallonia, Zrihen replaced Joëlle Kapompolé as a senator for the waloon community until 2014. She was also the vice-president of the Parti Socialiste between 2011 and 2014.[4]

She has been awarded with the Order of Leopold twice, one in 2007 as a Chevalier, and in 2014 as an Officier.[2]

Election results
  • 2001: Municipal councillor of La Louvière
  • 2001-2004: Member of the European Parliament
  • 2004-2007: Senator, coopted
  • 2007-2009: Senator, directly elected
  • 2006-2009: Deputy mayor of La Louvière
  • 2006-: Municipal Councillor of La Louvière
  • Member of the Waloon Parliament since June 30, 2009
    • Senator for the French Community:
      • June 30, 2009 to May 7, 2010
      • July 7, 2010 to May 25, 2014 (replacing Joëlle Kapompolé)
      • Since June 23, 2014 (appointed by the Walloon parliament) Vice President of the Senate

Honors received

References
  1. Olga Zrihen
  2. Le parcours d'Olga Zrihen
  3. Olga Zrihen - PS. Senate of Belgium
  4. Olga Zrihen. European Socialist Party
  5. "Belgische Senaat" (in Dutch). Belgian Senate. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  6. International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians Archived 2009-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, June 26, 2005
  7. The appeal in favour of Israeli membership of the European Union Archived 2009-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, Brussels, March 27, 2002
  8. Israeli membership of the European Union Archived 2009-07-20 at the Wayback Machine - Among the first signatories are those who took part in the Conference "Israel in the European Union", held from 4 to 6 March 2002 at the European Parliament: (...) Olga Zrihen, MEP, Socialist Party (Belgium)
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