Hélène Dorlhac
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Catherine Trautmann (Minister of State for Senior Citizens)
Hélène Dorlhac | |
|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Families and Senior Citizens | |
| In office 28 June 1988 – 15 May 1991 | |
| President | François Mitterrand |
| Preceded by | Georgina Dufoix (Secretary of State for Families) Catherine Trautmann (Minister of State for Senior Citizens) |
| Succeeded by | Laurent Cathala |
| Secretary of State for Prison Conditions | |
| In office 8 June 1974 – 25 August 1976 | |
| President | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing |
| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hélène Roujon 4 October 1935 Sumène, France |
| Died | 4 March 2026 (aged 90) Nîmes, France |
| Party | UDF |
| Education | University of Montpellier School of Medicine |
| Occupation | Doctor |
Hélène Dorlhac de Borne (French: [elˈɛn dɔʁlˈak dˈə- bˈɔʁn]; née Roujon; 4 October 1935 – 4 March 2026) was a French politician of the Union for French Democracy (UDF).[1]
Born in Sumène on 4 October 1935, Dorlhac was the daughter of Louis Roujon, the commune's former mayor. She graduated from the University of Montpellier School of Medicine with a diploma in occupational medicine.[2] In the 1970s, she joined the National Federation of the Independent Republicans and joined the pro-Valéry Giscard d'Estaing club Perspectives et Réalités.[2]
Dorlhac supported d'Estaing during the 1974 presidential election and was assigned to the president's cabinet as Secretary of State for Prison Conditions, a position in which she saw poor prison conditions for youth and was faced with several prison riots.[3] Her work focused primarily on the humanization of the prison system within the framework of the penal policies of the Ministry of Justice.[4] She left her post following a cabinet reshuffle in 1976 and her ministerial post was discontinued.[2]
During the 1988 presidential election, Dorlhac supported eventual victor François Mitterrand[2] and came out of her retirement to accept a position as Secretary of State for Families and Senior Citizens.[5] She was a driving force behind laws aimed at the prevention of child abuse, inlcuding the 119 child abuse hotline.[6][7] She also initiated campaigns to prevent pedophilia.[8] On 29 and 30 September 1989, she took part in the first ever World Summit for Children at the United Nations.[9] That year, she contributed to the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted on 20 November 1989 and championed a law on the protection of child models in 1990.[10][11] She left her ministerial post on 15 May 1991. From 1991 to 2000, she was a General Inspector of Social Affairs.[12]
Dorlhac was married to Jacques Dorlhac de Borne, a general practitioner with whom she had three children. She died in Nîmes on 4 March 2026, at the age of 90.[13]
