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Although she had been first lady for barely six months, the name Cecilia Sarkozy was already familiar to the French as an advocate for battered women and for greater efforts to integrate Muslim women into Western society. A month ago, Sarkozy's government outlawed the wearing of full-face veils in public
-- a measure she strongly defends. Many Muslims argue it's wrong to force a woman who prefers a veil for religious reasons to bare her face. Attias says it "makes a woman disappear; she's a woman who is erased." Her foundation's coming-out New York session will follow a two-day conference of the New York Forum, produced by her husband, who for years has been organizing brainy, star-studded events such as the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Bill Clinton's Clinton Global Initiative. Cecilia and Richard Attias have quickly become a power couple at such high-profile gatherings. "I'm OK everywhere," she says. She comes from families that had crossed borders and cultures. Cecilia Maria Sara Isabel Ciganer-Albeniz was born in France, the daughter of a Spanish Catholic mother and a Russian Jewish father she believes was part Gypsy. Her great-grandfather was the Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz.
As a teenager, she became a prize-winning pianist but gave it up because, she says, as an Albeniz, the expectations of her were too great, "which is ridiculous, because now I miss piano so much." Her dynamic manner briefly gives way to wistfulness -- "That is something I will always regret. ... I play when I'm alone"
-- and then she's back to talking about the foundation, which serves as a "platform" linking non-governmental organizations with academic and business experts to generate funding, media exposure and volunteers worldwide. And, of course, there's Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, whom she calls "fantastic!" The nun's Queens-based Hour Children charity has cared for 7,000 families, reuniting mothers behind bars with their children and deploying mentors to help them with housing, education, jobs and clothing. On her visit to Queens last year, Attias "was learning about America," says Fitzgerald. Attias says she also learned something from negotiating with Gadhafi and his aides: "When it comes to human lives," she says, "one must try to leave official diplomatic methods behind and try to speak another language, which is more the language of the heart"
-- "le langage du coeur."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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