Catherine Trautmann


Catherine Trautmann is a French politician for the French Socialist Party. She served as Minister of Culture of France in the Lionel Jospin cabinet 1997–2000 and was a Member of the European Parliament 1989–1997 and 2004–2014.

Career

She studied in Strasbourg, obtaining a master's degree in Protestant theology at the Protestant theological faculty of the University of Strasbourg. She is also a specialist on Coptic language and literature.
She was elected as the first female mayor of Strasbourg in 1989, re-elected in 1995, then defeated in 2001.
In the EP she sat on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and was a substitute for the Committee on Culture and Education and also a member of the Delegation for relations with Canada. She was elected from the constituency of East France.
Trautmann has been criticised for homophobia after refusing to shake the hand of gay Holocaust survivor Pierre Seel at a commemorative event.