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A Jewish survivor of a Nazi death camp at
Ravensbruck with the prisoner number 78651 tattooed on her arm,
she was also a fervent European and civil libertarian, becoming
the first directly elected president of the European parliament
in 1979.
Although out of the national limelight since 2007 when she left
her seat at France's top constitutional court, she commanded
wide respect across the political spectrum and remained among
the most popular politicians in opinion polls.
Her concentration camp experience had made her a passionate
advocate of European union but she was best known in France for
legalizing abortion when she was health minister in 1974.
Virtually unknown when she joined the cabinet, she fought
doggedly against a hostile parliament and divided public opinion
to push through a bill that became known as "the Veil Law",
making France the first mainly Roman Catholic country to
legalize abortion.
(Reporting by Paul Taylor, Michel Rose; Editing by Richard Lough)
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