| Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana | |
| Birth Name: | Pierrette Gabrielle Fofana |
| Office: | Member of the European Parliament |
| Term Start: | 1 July 2019 |
| Constituency: | Germany |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Bamako, Mali |
| Occupation: | Politician |
| Citizenship: | Germany |
| Children: | 3 |
Pierrette Gabrielle Herzberger-Fofana (born 20 March 1949) is a German-Malian politician of Alliance 90/The Greens and member of the European Parliament.
Herzberger-Fofana grew up in Senegal. She graduated in Paris in German sociolinguistics and obtained a further degree from the University of Trier.[1] She earned her doctorate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg with a dissertation that addressed women's literature in francophone sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2005, Herzberger-Fofana was first elected to the city council of Erlangen. She was one of the fifteen recipients of the 2009 Helene-Weber-Preis, which is awarded to women engaged in municipal politics. She is a board member of DaMigra, the umbrella organization of immigrant organizations.[2]
Herzberger-Fofana moved into the European Parliament on the 21st place in the European list of Alliance 90 / The Greens in the 2019 European elections in Germany 2019.[3] She is currently Germany's only black MEP.[4]
Herzberger-Fofana in the 2019-2024 legislature serves on the Committee on Development, holding one of four vice-chair positions.[5] In addition to her committee assignments, Herzberger-Fofana is part of the Parliament's delegations for relations with the Pan-African Parliament and to the CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee. She also co-chairs the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup.[6]
She has three children.[7] [8]
On 17 June 2020, Herzberger-Fofana claimed to have been harassed by two police officers in Brussels.[9] The accusation was made in the chamber of the European parliament. Brussels prosecutors issued a criminal complaint against her for defamation as well as for “acting rebelliously and insulting police officers”.[10]