Rama Yade

Rama Yade (full name Ramatoulaye Yade-Zimet) is a French politician, the Secretary of State in charge of foreign affairs and human rights under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bernard Kouchner.

Yade was born on December 13, 1976 in Dakar, Senegal. Her mother was a professor and her father, also a professor, the personal secretary of the president Léopold Sédar Senghor. A Muslim, Yade was educated at Catholic schools and then at the elite Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris popularly called "Sciences Po", where she graduated in 2000. Her husband is Jewish.

Yade then worked at the Paris town hall and the French National Assembly before becoming an administrator at the French Senate in 2002. She joined the UMP political party in 2005 and became national secretary in charge of Francophonie in 2006. She credits Nicolas Sarkozy's charisma with making her want to join the UMP.

Yade is married to Joseph Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel and son of the Yiddish singer Ben Zimet.

References

* [http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/ministere_817/ministre-les-secretaires-etat_818/rama-yade_16885/index.html Biography of Rama Yade]