Harlem Désir
| Harlem Désir | |
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| 11th First Secretary of the Socialist Party | |
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In office 18 October 2012 – 9 April 2014 |
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In office 16 September 2012 – 18 October 2012 (As Acting First Secretary) |
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In office 30 June 2011 – 16 October 2011 (As Acting First Secretary) |
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| Preceded by | Martine Aubry |
| Succeeded by | Jean-Christophe Cambadelis |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
25 November 1959 Paris, France |
| Political party |
 French:Socialist Party  EU:Party of European Socialists |
| Alma mater | University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne |
Harlem Désir (French: [aʁ.lɛm de.ziʁ], born 25 November 1959) is a French politician who has served in the government of France as Secretary of State for European Affairs since 2014. Previously he was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party.
Born in Paris, Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir is the son of a Martinican father and an Alsatian mother. He grew up in a housing project in Bagneux, north of Paris.
Désir studied at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, where he earned a license in philosophy in 1983. Also in 1983, he emerged as a leader from that year’s social unrest in France and helped organize the March for Equality and Against Racism (the so-called March of the Beurs) that started in the immigrant neighborhoods outside Lyon and ended in Paris.
Désir was the first president of the French anti-racist organisation SOS Racisme between 1984 and 1992. Under his leadership, the organization grew significantly in membership and acquired significant influence in French public life. Accused of misusing public assets from 1986 to 1987, he was sentenced to an 18 months suspended sentence and a 30,000 francs fine in 1998.
Désir first became a Member of the European Parliament following the 1999 European elections. A member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group, he was re-elected in 2004 and 2009.
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