Fleur Pellerin | |
---|---|
French Minister of Culture and Communications | |
In office 26 August 2014 – 11 February 2016 |
|
President | François Hollande |
Prime Minister | Manuel Valls |
Preceded by | Aurélie Filippetti |
Succeeded by | Audrey Azoulay |
Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Tourism Promotion and French overseas | |
In office 9 April 2014 – 26 August 2014 |
|
President | François Hollande |
Prime Minister | Manuel Valls |
Preceded by |
Nicole Bricq (Foreign Trade) Sylvia Pinel (Tourism) Hélène Conway-Mouret (French overseas) |
Succeeded by | Thomas Thévenoud |
Minister Delegate with responsibility for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Innovation and the Digital Economy | |
In office 16 May 2012 – 2 April 2014 |
|
President | François Hollande |
Prime Minister | Manuel Valls |
Preceded by | Éric Besson |
Succeeded by | Axelle Lemaire |
Personal details | |
Born |
Seoul, South Korea |
29 August 1973
Alma mater | ESSEC; Sciences Po, Paris; ENA, Strasbourg |
Fleur Pellerin (French pronunciation: [flœʁ pɛl.ʁɛ̃]; born 29 August 1973) is a French Socialist politician who served as French government minister from 2012 to 2016.
Pellerin was born in 1973 in Seoul, South Korea, where she was abandoned on the streets only three or four days' old before being rescued by an orphanage; six months later she was adopted by a French family. According to her adoption records she was called Kim Jong-Suk (김종숙, 金鍾淑), although it is unclear how she came by that name. Raised by middle-class parents — her father, who has a doctorate in nuclear physics, is a small-business owner — she grew up in two Paris suburbs, Montreuil and Versailles.
Pellerin graduated from ESSEC business school (Master's degree in Management) while she was just 21. She then graduated from Sciences Po (MPA) before attending the École nationale d'administration (ENA). She joined the French Court of Auditors where she rose to become a high-ranking civil servant. From 2010 to 2012, Pellerin served as president of the 21st Century Club, a French group that promotes diversity in employment.
Pellerin took charge of society and digital economy issues for Socialist Party candidate François Hollande in his successful 2012 French presidential election campaign.
In July 2012, Pellerin publicly announced her opposition to the sale of massive surveillance technologies causing quite a stir in French political circles since France is one of the biggest sellers of such technology.