Félix Braz
Luxembourgish politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Félix Braz (born 16 March 1966)[3] is a Portuguese-Luxembourgish politician who served as Second Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Greens, Braz also served as Minister of Justice in the Bettel I coalition government.
Félix Braz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Second Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg | |
| In office 5 December 2018 – 11 October 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Xavier Bettel |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | François Bausch |
| Minister for Justice | |
| In office 4 December 2013 – 11 October 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Xavier Bettel |
| Preceded by | Octavie Modert |
| Succeeded by | Sam Tanson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 March 1966 |
| Citizenship |
|
| Party | Greens |
| Children | Liz Braz |
In October 2019, he was granted an "honourable resignation" from his position as Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice,[4][5] having suffered a major heart attack in August of that year that briefly left him in a coma.[6] Now retired from politics, Braz has contested this involuntary resignation as "forced" and "unlawful", unsuccessfully challenging the decision with the Administrative Tribunal and Court.[7][8]
Biography
Braz, the son of Portuguese immigrants living in Luxembourg since 1960, was born in Differdange in 1966.[3] He became a Luxembourg citizen when he completed 18 years old, in 1984.[9] After secondary school, he started studying law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University, but broke off his studies after one year.[3]
In 1990 he worked as chief editor and presenter of a news broadcast in Portuguese on RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg.[3]
From 1991 he was the parliamentary secretary for the Greens.[3] He was also a communal councillor in Esch-sur-Alzette from 1995 to 2000, and an alderman (échevin) from 2000 to 2011.[3]
He was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 2004 for the Sud constituency, becoming the first Luxembourgish Deputy of Portuguese origin[10] and was re-elected in 2009 and 2013.[3] In the Chamber, he was vice-chairman of the Committee for Transport from 2004 to 2009.[3] After the October 2013 elections, he became chairman of the Greens' parliamentary group.[3] He joined the new coalition government as Minister for Justice on 4 December 2013.[3]
Personal life
Félix Braz regained his Portuguese citizenship in 2024, 40 years after renouncing it in order to become a Luxembourgish citizen, as Luxembourg has allowed multiple citizenship since 2008.[2]
His daughter Liz entered politics in 2023 as a member of the LSAP, being elected that year to both the Esch-sur-Alzette communal council and the Chamber of Deputies, and becoming only the second Portuguese Luxembourger to achieve the latter, after her father.[11]
Honours
Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (23 May 2017)
