Laurette Onkelinx facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Laurette Onkelinx
Minister of Social Affairs and Health
In office 21 December 2007 – 11 October 2014
Prime Minister	Guy Verhofstadt Yves Leterme Herman Van Rompuy Yves Leterme Elio Di Rupo
Preceded by	Rudy Demotte
Succeeded by	Maggie De Block
Minister of Justice
In office 11 July 2003 – 21 December 2007
Prime Minister	Guy Verhofstadt
Preceded by	Marc Verwilghen
Succeeded by	Jo Vandeurzen
Minister of Labour and Transport
In office 5 May 2003 – 11 July 2003
Prime Minister	Guy Verhofstadt
Preceded by	Herself (Labour) Isabelle Durant (Transport)
Succeeded by	Peter Vanvelthoven (Labour) Renaat Landuyt (Transport)
Minister of Labour
In office 13 July 1999 – 5 May 2003
Prime Minister	Guy Verhofstadt
Preceded by	Miet Smet
Succeeded by	Herself (Labour and Transport)
Minister-President of the French Community
In office 6 May 1993 – 13 July 1999
Preceded by	Bernard Anselme
Succeeded by	Hervé Hasquin
Minister of Social Integration, Public Health and Environment
In office 7 March 1992 – 6 May 1993
Prime Minister	Jean-Luc Dehaene
Preceded by	Philippe Busquin
Succeeded by	Jacques Santkin
Personal details
Born	(1958-10-02) 2 October 1958 (age 65) Ougrée, Belgium
Political party	Socialist Party
Spouses	Abbès Guenned (Divorced) Marc Uyttendaele
Education	University of Liège

Laurette A. J. Onkelinx (born 2 October 1958) is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She was the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Di Rupo Government, which took office on 6 December 2011.

Biography

Born in Ougrée to Gaston Onkelinx [fr] and Germaine Ali Bakir, of Kabyle origin, she graduated in law at the University of Liège, after which she worked as a lawyer for ten years. At the age of 30 she was elected to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

Her father, Gaston Onkelinx, originally a Dutch-speaking migrant from Flemish Limburg to francophone Wallonia, has long been mayor of Seraing (near Liège) and member of the House of Representatives (1974–1987). Her grandfather, Maurice Onkelinx, was alderman and mayor of Jeuk in Limburg and lost his civil rights for some years after the Second World War. Her older brother, Alain Onkelinx, has been a member of the Regional Parliament of Wallonia since September 2005. She speaks French and Dutch.

Political career

First elected to the Belgian House of Representatives in 1988, she held several ministerial posts without any interruption from 1992 until 2014:

• Minister of Social Integration, Public Health and Environment (1992–1993)
• Minister-President and Minister of the Civil Service, Child Healthcare and Promotion of Health in the French Community (1993–1995)
• Minister-President and Minister of Education, Media, Youth, Child Healthcare and Promotion of Health in the French Community (1995–1999)
• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour (1999–2003)
• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour and Transport (2003)
• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice (July 2003 – December 2007)
• Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health (December 2007 – October 2014)