View source for Simone Veil

{{Short description|French politician (1927–2017)}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Simone Weil]], a French philosopher}}
{{Expand French|topic=bio|date=June 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Simone Veil
| image               = Official portrait of Simone Veil (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Veil in 1982
| office              = Member of the [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]]
| term_start          = 3 March 1998
| term_end            = 3 March 2007
| appointer           = [[René Monory]]
| president           = {{ubl|[[Roland Dumas]]|[[Yves Guéna]]|[[Pierre Mazeaud]]}}
| predecessor         = Jean Cabannes
| successor           = [[Renaud Denoix de Saint Marc]]
| office1             = [[Minister of Health (France)|Minister for Social Affairs, Health and Urban&nbsp;Issues]]
| president1          = [[François Mitterrand]]
| primeminister1      = [[Édouard Balladur]]
| deputy1             = [[Philippe Douste-Blazy]]
| term_start1         = 30 March 1993
| term_end1           = 11 May 1995
| predecessor1        = [[Bernard Kouchner]]
| successor1          = [[Élisabeth Hubert]]
| office2             = President of the European Parliament
| order2              = 13th
| term_start2         = 17 July 1979
| term_end2           = 18 January 1982
| predecessor2        = [[Emilio Colombo]]
| successor2          = [[Piet Dankert]]
| parliament3         = European
| constituency_MP3    = [[France (European Parliament constituency)|France]]
| term_start3         = 17 July 1979
| term_end3           = 30 March 1993
| predecessor3        = ''Constituency established''
| successor3          = [[Jean-Marie Vanlerenberghe]]
| office4             = Minister of Health
| president4          = [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]]
| primeminister4      = {{ubl|[[Jacques Chirac]]|[[Raymond Barre]]}}
| term_start4         = 28 May 1974
| term_end4           = 4 July 1979
| predecessor4        = [[Michel Poniatowski]]
| successor4          = [[Jacques Barrot]]
| birth_name          = Simone Annie Jacob
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1927|07|13}}
| birth_place         = [[Nice]], France
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2017|06|30|1927|07|13|df=y}}
| death_place         = Paris, France
| resting_place       = [[Panthéon]]
| party               = {{ubl|[[Union for French Democracy|UDF]] (1979,<ref name="Sauvard 2012 p. 204">{{cite book | last=Sauvard | first=J. | title=Simone Veil - La force de la conviction | publisher=L'Archipel | year=2012 | isbn=978-2-8098-0682-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-TTLDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT204 | language=fr| page=204}}</ref> 1984, 1995–1997)<ref name="BFMTV 2017">{{cite web | title=Le parcours de Simone Veil auprès des Présidents, de Giscard à Sarkozy | website=BFMTV | date=30 June 2017 | url=https://www.bfmtv.com/politique/le-parcours-de-simone-veil-aupres-des-presidents-de-giscard-a-sarkozy_AN-201706300072.html | language=fr}}</ref><!--|Union pour la France en Europe (UFE) !1984)-->|[[Union of Democrats and Independents|UDI]] (2012–2017)|[[European Liberal Democratic and Reform Party]] (in the European Parliament)}}
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Antoine Veil]]|1946|2013|end=d.}}
| children            = 3
| alma_mater          = {{ubl|[[Faculty of Law of Paris]]|[[University of Paris]]|[[Sciences Po]]<br/>[[French National School for the Judiciary|ENM]]}}
}}
'''Simone Veil''' ({{IPA|fr|simɔn vɛj|lang|Fr-Simone Veil.ogg}}; {{Nee|'''Jacob'''}}; 13 July 1927 – 30 June 2017) was a French [[magistrate]], [[Holocaust survivor]] and politician. Deported as a teenager to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]] and later [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp|Bergen-Belsen]], she became a prominent advocate for human dignity and European reconciliation. As [[Minister of Health (France)|minister of health]], she championed women’s rights and is best remembered for the landmark 1975 law legalising abortion, known as the ''[[Veil Act]]'' ({{Langx|fr|link=no|Loi Veil}}).

In 1979, Veil became the first woman elected [[President of the European Parliament]], symbolising both her stature and her commitment to European integration as a guarantee of peace. She later served on [[Constitutional Council (France)|France’s Constitutional Council]] (1998–2007), the country’s highest legal authority, and as president of the [[Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah]], where she contributed to Holocaust remembrance and education.

Honoured nationally and internationally, she was elected to the [[Académie Française]] in 2008, received the grand cross of the [[Legion of Honour|Légion d’honneur]] in 2012, and was awarded numerous [[Doctorate Honoris Causa|doctorates honoris causa]] abroad. After her death in 2017, she and her husband, Antoine Veil, were interred at the [[Panthéon]] in July 2018 during a state ceremony led by President [[Emmanuel Macron]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Katz |first=Brigit |title=France's Simone Veil Will Become the Fifth Woman Buried in the Panthéon |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/simone-veil-will-become-fifth-woman-buried-pantheon-180963947/ |access-date=1 July 2018 |work=Smithsonian |language=en}}</ref>

==Early years and family==
Simone Jacob was born on 13 July 1927 to an [[atheist Jewish]] family in [[Nice]]. Her father André Jacob was an architect who graduated from the [[Beaux-Arts de Paris]] and went on to win the [[Prix de Rome]] for Architecture.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=}} In 1922 he married Yvonne Steinmetz, who had just passed her [[Baccalauréat]] and was about to start studying [[chemistry]]. André Jacob insisted that she abandon her studies upon marriage.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=13}} The family had moved from [[Paris]] to Nice in 1924,  hoping to benefit from construction projects on the [[Côte d’Azur]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=13}} Simone was the youngest of four siblings, Madeleine (nicknamed Milou), born in 1923; [[Denise Vernay|Denise]], born in 1924 and Jean, born in 1925.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=8}} 
Her father's family had come from [[Lorraine]], while her mother’s side came from the [[Rhineland]] region and from [[Belgium]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=10}}

Simone's family was explicitly Jewish but non-practicing.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jacquemart |first1=Claude |last2=Garat |first2=Jean-Baptiste |date=2017-07-02 |title=Simone Veil, survivante et immortelle |language=fr |trans-title=Simone Veil, survivor and immortal |pages=4 |work=[[Le Figaro]]}}</ref> "Being a member of the [[Jews|Jewish community]] was never a problem. It was proudly claimed by my father, but for cultural reasons, not religious ones", she wrote in her [[autobiography]].  "In his eyes, if the [[Jewish culture|Jewish]] people were to remain the chosen people, it was because they were the people of the Book, the people of thinking and writing."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chemin |first=Anna |date=2017-06-30 |title=Mort de Simone Veil, icône de la lutte pour les droits des femmes |language=fr |trans-title=Death of Simone Veil, icon of the fight for women's rights |work=[[Le Monde]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2017/06/30/mort-de-simone-veil-icone-de-la-lutte-pour-les-droits-des-femmes_5153554_3382.html |access-date=2023-07-13}}</ref>

===Deportation===
When [[Battle of France|Germany invaded France]] and the [[Vichy regime]] came to power in June 1940, the family managed to avoid being deported, as Nice had been included in the [[Italian occupation of France|Italian occupation zone]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=27}} Asked not to come to school by its superintendent, Simone Jacob had to study at home. As the round-up of Jews intensified, the family split up and lived with different friends under false identities. Denise left for [[Lyon]] to join the resistance, while 16-year-old Simone continued studying and passed her baccalauréat exam under her real name in March 1944.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=38}} The next day she was arrested by the [[Gestapo]] on her way out to meet friends and celebrate the end of her secondary education.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=38}} The rest of her family was also arrested on that day.

On 7 April 1944, Simone, her mother, and her sisters were sent to the transit camp of [[Drancy internment camp|Drancy]], then on 13 April were deported to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] in Convoy 71.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=}} Simone’s brother and father were deported to the Baltic states in Convoy 73, never to be seen again, and thus assumed to have been murdered. Her sister Denise was deported to the [[Ravensbrück concentration camp]], which she survived, and after the end of World War II in Europe was reunited with Simone.

On 15 April 1944, Simone arrived at Auschwitz. She later wrote that she managed to avoid the gas chamber by lying about her age and was registered for the labour camp.{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=51}} In January 1945, Simone, along with her mother and sister, was sent on a march to [[Bergen-Belsen concentration camp]], where her mother died of [[typhus]]. Madeleine also fell ill but, like Simone, was saved when the camp was liberated on 15 April 1945.{{sfn| Veil | 2007 | p=76}}

===Return to France===
Simone Jacob returned to France and started studying law at the [[Paris Law Faculty|University of Paris]] before going to the [[Sciences Po|Institut d'études politiques]], where she met [[Antoine Veil]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=98}} The couple married on 26 October 1946, and would go on to have three sons, Jean, Nicolas, and Pierre-François. They moved to live in the [[American occupation zone in Germany]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=110}} In 1952, Madeleine Jacob died with her son in a car accident after visiting Simone in [[Stuttgart]].{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=109}}

==Political career==
[[File:Simone Veil02b.jpg|thumb|left|130px|Simone Veil in Deauville, 31 May 1988.]]

===Ministry of Justice, 1956–1974===
After graduating from the [[Faculty of Law of Paris]] with a law degree, Veil spent several years practising law. In 1954, she passed the national examination to become a magistrate.<ref name="Simone Veil">{{cite web|title=Simone Veil|last=Hottell |first=Ruth |url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/veil-simone|website=Jewish Women's Archive|access-date=2 July 2014}}</ref>{{sfn | Veil | 2007 | p=116}} She entered the National Penitentiary Administration under the [[Ministry of Justice]], where she held a senior position and was responsible for judicial affairs.<ref name="histoireparlesfemmes.wordpress.com" /> She improved women's prison conditions and the treatment of incarcerated women.<ref name="histoireparlesfemmes.wordpress.com">{{cite web|title=Simone Veil, défenseuse de l'avortement|url=http://histoireparlesfemmes.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/simone-veil-defenseure-de-lavortement/|website=L'histoire par les femmes|access-date=2 July 2014|language=fr|date=14 February 2014}}</ref> In 1964, she left to become the director of [[civil affairs]], where she improved French women's general rights and status.<ref name="Simone Veil"/> She successfully achieved the right to dual parental control of family legal matters and adoptive rights for women.<ref name="Simone Veil"/> In 1970, she became secretary general of the {{Ill|Supreme Magistracy Council|fr|Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (France)}}.<ref name="histoireparlesfemmes.wordpress.com"/>

===Minister of Health, 1974–1979===
From 1974 to 1979, Veil was a [[Minister of Health (France)|Minister of Health]] in the governments of [[Prime Minister of France|prime minister]]s [[Jacques Chirac]] and [[Raymond Barre]]: from 28 May 1974 to 29 March 1977, Minister of Health; from 29 March 1977 to 3 April 1978, Minister of Health and Social Security; and from 3 April 1978 to 4 July 1979, Minister of Health and Family.

She pushed forward two notable laws. The first, passed on 4 December 1974, facilitated access to [[contraception]] such as the [[combined oral contraceptive pill]], which was legalized in 1967.

The second, passed on 17 January 1975, legalized [[abortion in France]] – this was her hardest-fought political initiative and the one for which she is best known. The abortion debate was particularly difficult for her because those in favour of keeping abortion illegal launched aggressive personal attacks against Veil and her family.<ref name="Simone Veil"/> Since the passing of the law, many have paid tribute to Veil and thanked her for her courageous and determined fight.<ref name="Simone Veil"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=20 September 2016|title=Simone Veil, French Holocaust survivor who championed women's rights|url=https://webdoc.france24.com/obituary-simone-veil-holocaust-women-abortion-france/|access-date=21 October 2020|website=FRANCE 24|language=en}}</ref>

In 1976, Veil also helped to introduce a ban on smoking in certain public places and worked on the problem of medically underserved rural areas.<ref name=lancet/>

===European Parliament, 1979–1993===
In 1979, Veil was elected as a [[Member of the European Parliament]] in the [[1979 European Parliament election in France|first European parliamentary election]]. In its first session, the new Parliament elected Veil as its first [[President of the European Parliament|President]],<ref name="lancet">{{Cite journal |last=Casassus |first=Barbara |date=2017-07-22 |title=Obituary Simone Veil |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(17)31880-9/fulltext |journal=[[The Lancet]] |volume=390 |issue=10092 |pages=356|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31880-9 |s2cid=54386828 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> a position she held until 1982.<ref name="EP profile"/> The archives concerning her term as President of the European Parliament are deposited at the [[Historical Archives of the European Union]] in Florence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.eui.eu/en/fonds/352139?item=PE1.P1|title=Cabinet de la Présidence Simone Veil|website=archives.eui.eu|access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref>

In 1981, Veil won the prestigious [[Karlspreis|Charlemagne Prize]], an award given to honour the contributions made by individuals to advancing the unity of Europe.<ref name="Trade Arabia">{{cite web|title=Bahrain business pioneer Veil mourned|url=http://ftp.tradearabia.com/news/MISC_234083.html|website=Trade Arabia|access-date=2 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707061411/http://ftp.tradearabia.com/news/MISC_234083.html|archive-date=7 July 2014}}</ref>

After the end of her term as President in 1982, she remained a member of the European Parliament; she was re-elected for the last time in the [[1989 European Parliament election in France|1989 election]], stepping down in 1993.<ref name="EP profile" /> She was Chair of the [[European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Group|European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party]] until 1989.<ref name="EP profile">{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/1174/SIMONE_VEIL_home.html |title=Simone VEIL: History of parliamentary service |website=[[Europa (Web portal)|Europa.eu]] |publisher=European Parliament |access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref>

Between 1984 and 1992, she served on the [[European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety|Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety]], and the [[Committee on Political Affairs (European Parliament)|Committee on Political Affairs]]. After stepping down from these committees, she served on the [[Committee on Foreign Affairs (EU)|Committee on Foreign Affairs]] and its related [[Subcommittee on Human Rights]]. Between 1989 and 1993, she was also a member of Parliament's delegation to the [[ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly]], serving as its vice-chairwoman until 1992.<ref name="EP profile"/>

===Return to French Government, 1993–1995===
From 31 March 1993 to 16 May 1995, Veil was again a member of the cabinet, serving as [[Minister of State]] and [[Minister of Health (France)|Minister of Health]], [[Minister of Social Affairs (France)|Social Affairs]] and the city in the government of Prime Minister [[Édouard Balladur]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Décret n° 76 du 30 MARS 1993 RELATIF LA COMPOSITION DU GOUVERNEMENT |trans-title=Decree n° 76 of 30 MARCH 1993 RELATING TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000543393 |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=[[Légifrance]] |language=fr}}</ref> In the mid-1990s, she worked to help the disabled, [[HIV/AIDS|HIV]]-positive patients, and mothers of young children.<ref name=lancet/>

===Member of the Constitutional Council, 1998===
In 1998, she was appointed to the [[Constitutional Council of France]]. In 2005, she put herself briefly on leave from the council in order to campaign in favour of the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe]]. This action was criticized because it seemed to contradict the legal provisions that members of the council should keep a distance from partisan politics: the independence and impartiality of the council would be jeopardized, critics said, if members could put themselves "on leave" in order to campaign for a project.<ref name="lci.tf1.fr">{{cite news|title=Référendum : Simone Veil répond à Debré|url=http://lci.tf1.fr/france/2005-05/referendum-simone-veil-repond-debre-4860219.html?xtmc=simone%20veil%20debr%C3%A9&xtcr=6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714150838/http://lci.tf1.fr/france/2005-05/referendum-simone-veil-repond-debre-4860219.html?xtmc=simone%20veil%20debr%C3%A9&xtcr=6|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 July 2014|newspaper=My TF1 News|access-date=30 January 2017|language=fr}}</ref> In response, Veil said that she, the president of the [[Constitutional Council of France|Constitutional Council]] and colleagues had deliberated on the issue beforehand and they had given her permission to take her leave without having to resign. Being a staunch supporter of the European project, she believed others should not "ignore the historical dimension of [[European integration]]".<ref name="lci.tf1.fr"/>

==Later life and death==
[[File:Pantheon Veil 2.jpg|thumb|The coffins of Simone and Antoine Veil under the dome of the Panthéon on 1 July 2018|200x200px]] 
[[File:Pantheon Veil 1.jpg|thumb|right|Rue Soufflot on the day of the Panthéon ceremony|200x200px]]
[[File:Panth%C3%A9on_-_Les_%C3%A9poux_Veil_au_fond.jpg|thumb|right|The tombs of Simone and Antoine Veil in the crypt of the Panthéon |200x200px]]
In 2003, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the [[International Criminal Court|International Criminal Court's]] Trust Fund for Victims. 
In 2007, Simone Veil supported presidential candidate [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]. She was by his side on the day after he received 31 per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections that year.<ref name="Par LEXPRESS.fr avec Reuters et 2007">{{cite web |date=8 March 2007 |title=Simone Veil rallie Sarkozy |trans-title=Simone Veil rallies Sarkozy |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/politique/simone-veil-rallie-sarkozy_463337.html |website=[[L'Express]] |language=fr |agency=Reuters}}</ref>

In 2008, Simone Veil became the sixth woman to be elected to the [[Académie Française|Académie française]]. She joined the Academy's forty "immortals", as the members are informally known, occupying the [[List of members of the Académie française#Seat 13|13th seat]], once the seat of literary figure [[Jean Racine]]. Her induction address was given in March 2010 by [[Jean d'Ormesson]]. On her sword, given to her as to every other immortal, are engraved her Auschwitz number (number 78651), the motto of the French Republic ([[liberté, égalité, fraternité]]) and the motto of the European Union, Unity in diversity ([[Unity in diversity|Unis dans la diversité]]).<ref name="Hardach 2010">{{cite web | last=Hardach | first=Sophie | title=Auschwitz survivor Veil joins Academie Francaise | website=U.K. | date=18 March 2010 | url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-academie-idUSTRE62H3I520100318| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127083316/https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-academie-idUSTRE62H3I520100318| url-status=dead| archive-date=27 November 2020}}</ref>

Veil died at her home on 30 June 2017, at age 89.<ref>{{cite web |date=30 June 2017 |title=Simone Veil est décédée à 89 ans |trans-title=Simone Veil died at 89 |url=http://www.lejdd.fr/politique/simone-veil-est-decedee-a-89-ans-3376211 |work=[[Le Journal du Dimanche]] |language=fr}}</ref> Her son Jean said at her public ceremony on 5 July, "I forgive you for having poured water over my head", in reference to an event where she had emptied a carafe of water over his head in disgust at what she considered to be his [[Misogyny|misogynist]] remarks.<ref name=lancet/>

On 5 July 2017, Veil was honoured with a national ceremony and military honours in the courtyard of [[les Invalides]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=French rights champion Simone Veil given coveted place in Panthéon  |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=5 July 2017 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/05/french-rights-champion-simone-veil-place-pantheon-mausoleum-paris}}</ref> after which she was interred next to her husband, who died in 2013, at [[Montparnasse Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Roe |first1=David |date=5 July 2017 |title=France buries women's rights icon Simone Veil |work=[[Radio France Internationale]] |url=http://en.rfi.fr/france/20170705-france-buries-womens-rights-icon-simone-veil}}</ref> The ceremony at les Invalides was attended by [[Emmanuel Macron|President Macron]], Holocaust survivors, politicians and dignitaries. In his speech during the ceremony, President Macron announced the decision to rebury Veil and her husband in the [[Panthéon]],<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Breeden |first1=Aurelien |title=Simone Veil to Be Laid to Rest in Panthéon, Among France's Revered |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=5 July 2017 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/world/europe/simone-veil-pantheon.html |issn=0362-4331  }}</ref> which was done on {{dts|2018|7|1|format=dmy}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Simone Veil |url=https://en.gariwo.net/righteous/the-righteous-biographies/holocaust/exemplary-figures-reported-by-gariwo/simone-veil-19545.html |access-date=21 October 2020 |website=Gariwo |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
* She and her husband lived in an apartment on the second floor of 11, {{ill|Place Vauban|fr}} in the [[7th arrondissement of Paris|7th arrondissement]] of Paris, on the [[Rive Gauche|rive gauche]]. In 1983 she instigated the Club Vauban, a circle of politicians and intellectuals motivated to abolish political barriers between [[Left-wing politics|left]] and [[Right-wing politics|right]].

==Honours==
===National honours ===
* Grand Cross of the [[Legion of Honour]] (2012)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/simone-veil-faite-grand-croix-de-la-legion-d-honneur-10-09-2012-2158649.php|title=Simone Veil faite grand'croix de la Légion d'honneur|trans-title=Simone Veil made Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour|date=10 September 2012|newspaper=[[Le Parisien]]|access-date=9 January 2017|language=fr}}</ref>
* Knight of the [[Ordre National du Mérite]] (2001)
* Medal of Honor for Health and Social Affairs (2012)

===Foreign honours===
* {{Flag|Brazil}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Southern Cross]] (1978)
* {{Flag|Cameroon}}: Grand Officier of the [[Order of Valour]] (1982)
* {{flag|Germany}}: Knight Commander of the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]] (1975)
* {{Flag|Ivory Coast}}: Grand Officier of the [[Order of Ivory Merit]] (1978)
* {{flag|Latvia}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Three Stars]] (2007)
* {{flag|Luxembourg}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg]] (1978)
* {{Flag|Morocco}}: Commander of the [[Order of Ouissam Alaouite]] (1978)
* {{Flag|Portugal}}: Grand Cross of the [[Order of Prince Henry]] (1993)
* {{flag|Portugal}} : Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit (Portugal)|Order of Merit]] (1987)
* {{Flag|Senegal}}: Grand Officier of the [[National Order of the Lion]] (1978)
* {{Flag|Tunisia}}: Grand Officier of the [[Order of the Republic (Tunisia)|Order of the Republic]] (1977)
* {{Flag|United Kingdom}}: Dame Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (1998)<ref name="A life">{{cite book|last1=Veil|first1=Simone|title=A life|date=1 September 2009|publisher=Haus Publishing}}</ref>

==Awards==
* In 2005 she was awarded the [[Prince of Asturias Awards|Prince of Asturias Award]] in International Cooperation.<ref name="Intermark">{{cite web | last=Intermark | first=IT | title=Simone Veil - Princess of Asturias Awards - The Princess of Asturias Foundation | website=The Princess of Asturias Foundation | url=https://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2005-simone-veil.html?especifica=0}}</ref>
* In 2007 she was awarded the [[North-South Prize]] of the [[Council of Europe]].<ref name="Committee of Ministers Chairmanships 2019">{{cite web | title=Simone Veil, laureate of the North-South Prize 2007 | website=Committee of Ministers Chairmanships | date=13 March 2019 | url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/presidency/photo-gallery/-/asset_publisher/5KfpgTkmc7nJ/content/simone-veil-laurete-du-prix-nord-sud-2007?_101_INSTANCE_5KfpgTkmc7nJ_viewMode=view%2F}}</ref>
* In 2008 she won the [[Charles V European Award|Charles V Prize]], awarded by the Fundación Academia Europea de Yuste in honour of "her acknowledged merits in the struggle for the advancement of women's equality."<ref name="S.A. 2008">{{cite web |last=S.A. |first=Sarenet |date=19 June 2008 |title=King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía honour Simone Veil |url=http://www.surinenglish.com/20080619/news/spain/king-juan-carlos-queen-200806190950.html |website=SUR in English}}</ref>
* In 2010 she received the [[Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi|Coudenhove-Kalergi Badge]] by the [[Europa-Union Deutschland|Europa-Union Münster]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Coudenhove-Kalergi-Plakette: Preisträger|trans-title=Coudenhove-Kalergi Badge: Recipients|url=http://europa-union-muenster.de/CKP.aspx#h2_Preisträger|website=Europa Union Deutschland, Kreisverband Münster|access-date=30 January 2017|language=de}}</ref>
* 2011 [[Schiller Prize of the City of Marbach]]<ref name="Home - Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology 2019">{{cite web |date=6 April 2019 |title=The Schiller Prize of the City of Marbach am Neckar 2019 will be awarded to Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard |url=https://www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/article/the-schiller-prize-of-the-city-of-marbach-am-neckar-2019-will-be-awarded-to-christiane-nuesslein-vol/ |access-date=21 July 2021 |website=[[Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology]] |language=de}}</ref>
* She was a jury member for the Conflict Prevention Prize awarded every year by the [[Fondation Chirac]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fondationchirac.eu/en/conflicts-prevention/the-prize-for-conflict-prevention/the-jury/|title=The Jury|website=Fondation Chirac}}</ref>
* In 2018 she was the subject of a [[2 euro commemorative coins|€2 commemorative coin]], whose design included her deportation registration number, the [[European Parliament]] and the year "1975" signifying the legalisation of abortion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:C2018/155/03&from=DE|title=New national side of euro coin intended for circulation|website=eur-lex.europa.eu}}</ref>

===Honorary degrees===
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Princeton University]] (United States), 1975{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=7}} 
* [[Weizmann Institute of Science]] (Israel), 1976{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=7}}
* [[Bar-Ilan University]] (Israel), 1979{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=14}} 
* [[University of Cambridge]] (England), 1980{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=7}} 
* [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], 1980{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=140}}  
* [[Yale University]] (United States), 1980{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|pp=7—8}} 
* [[Georgetown University]] (United States), 1981{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=7}}
* [[University of Urbino]] (Italy), 1981{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=93}}  
* [[University of Sussex]] (England), 1982{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=92}} 
* [[Yeshiva University]] of New York (United States), 1982{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=91}}  
* [[Université libre de Bruxelles]] (Belgium), 1984{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=7}} 
* [[Brandeis University]] (United States), 1989{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=91}}   
* [[University of Glasgow]] (Scotland), 1995{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=8}}  
* [[University of Pennsylvania]] (United States), 1997{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=8}}   
* [[University of Cassino and Southern Lazio]] (Italy), 2006{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=89}}  
* [[Ben-Gurion University of the Negev]] (Israel), 2010{{sfn|Fonds Simone Veil|p=8}}  
{{Div col end}}

===The Simone Veil Prize===
In 2018, the government of France established a prize in memory of Veil to honour people who fight for women's causes.<ref name="launch" /> The intent is to draw attention to efforts to promote women's autonomy, education, participation in leadership roles, and freedom from violence and discrimination.<ref name=launch>{{cite web|url=https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/human-rights/women-s-rights/events-6401/article/launch-of-the-simone-veil-prize-of-the-french-republic-08-03-19 |title=Launch of the Simone Veil Prize of the French Republic |date=8 March 2019 |website=France Diplomatie |access-date=3 June 2019}}</ref> The prize is awarded each year on 8 March, [[International Women's Day]], with €100,000 to support work in the winner's area of concern. On 8 March 2019, the first Simone Veil Prize was awarded to [[Aissa Doumara Ngatansou]], co-founder of the Association for the Elimination of Violence against Women (ALVF) in Cameroon.<ref name=launch /><ref>{{cite web |date=8 March 2019 |title=Cameroon women's activist wins award in memory of French icon Simone Veil |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20190308-cameroon-women-aissa-doumara-ngatansou-simone-veil-prize |access-date=3 June 2019 |website=[[France 24]]}}</ref>

===Other recognition===
* A French-language biographical drama film about her was released in 2022: ''[[Simone Veil, A Woman of the Century]]''.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.ncronline.org/culture/simone-veil-biopic-explores-serving-others-world-inflicts-pain | work = National Catholic Reporter | access-date = 6 March 2024 | date = 18 August 2023 | title = Simone Veil biopic explores serving others in a world that inflicts pain | first = Jose | last = Solís }}</ref>
* The Simone Veil Bridge by [[Office for Metropolitan Architecture|OMA]] in [[Bordeaux|Bordeaux, France]], which opened in July 2024, is named in her honour.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Sullivan |first=Feargus |date=12 July 2024 |title=Rethinking What an Urban Bridge Can Do |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-12/bordeaux-pont-simone-veil-by-rem-koolhaas-oma-rethinks-the-urban-bridge |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=www.bloomberg.com}}</ref>

==Publications==
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Veil | first=S. | title=Une vie | publisher=Stock | series=Ldp Litterature | year=2009 | isbn=978-2-253-12776-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jY_PgAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Veil | first=S. | title=Speeches 2002-2007 | publisher=Editions Le Manuscrit | year=2020 | isbn=978-2-304-00423-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CnNDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last1=Veil | first1=S. | last2=Adler | first2=N. | last3=Nice | first3=G. | last4=Boraine | first4=A. | title=Genocide and Accountability: Three Public Lectures by Simone Veil, Geoffrey Nice and Alex Boraine | publisher=Amsterdam University Press | year=2004 | isbn=978-90-5629-364-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ed8p-zzjtEC }}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last1=Veil | first1=S. | last2=Hausser | first2=I. | title=Une jeunesse au temps de la Shoah: extraits d'Une vie | publisher=Librairie générale française | series=Litterature & Documents | year=2010 | isbn=978-2-253-12762-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XXBbwAACAAJ | language=fr}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Veil | first=S. | title=Les hommes aussi s'en souviennent | publisher=Stock | series=Essais - Documents | year=2004 | isbn=978-2-234-06831-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqDRDW20pYQC | language=fr}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Veil | first=S. | title=Mes combats | publisher=Bayard Culture | year=2016 | isbn=978-2-227-49020-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gn5wDQAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last1=Veil | first1=S. | last2=Ormesson | first2=J. | title=Discours de réception de Simone Veil à l'Académie française| publisher=Groupe Robert Laffont | series=Essais Laffont | year=2011 | isbn=978-2-221-11738-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCy3_TIbPhwC | language=fr }}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last=Veil | first=S. | title=L'Aube à Birkenau | publisher=Groupe Margot | year=2019 | isbn=979-10-375-0108-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhEBEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT11 | language=fr}}
* {{cite book|ref=none | last1=Launay | first1=C. | last2=Soulé | first2=M. | last3=Veil | first3=S. | title=L'adoption: Données médicales, psychologiques et sociales | publisher=Les milieux éducatifs de l'enfant | year=1980 | isbn=978-2-402-22881-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9etYDwAAQBAJ | language=fr}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite web | title=Fonds Simone Veil | website=siv.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr | url=https://www.siv.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr/siv/rechercheconsultation/consultation/ir/pdfIR.action?irId=FRAN_IR_050929 | ref={{sfnref|Fonds Simone Veil}} | access-date=2025-09-25}}
* {{cite book | last=Veil | first=S. | title=Une vie | publisher=Stock | series=Essais - Documents | year=2007 | isbn=978-2-234-06692-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jY8RMEDNBS0C}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}

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