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Edith Cresson[AdEt´ kresON´] Pronunciation Key, 1934–, French politician, b. Edith Campion. After studying at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales, she became a consultant in private industry. Active in the Socialist party, she became national secretary of the party (for youth) in 1974 and was elected to the European Assembly in 1979. She then held a series of ministerial appointments, including agriculture and forestry (1981–83), trade and tourism (1983–84), and industrial redeployment and foreign trade (1984–86). From 1986 until her resignation in 1990, she was a member of the national assembly. In May, 1991, President FranCois Mitterrand recalled her to replace Michel Rocard as premier, but she resigned in Apr., 1992, and was replaced by Pierre BErEgovoy. In 1995, Cresson was appointed to the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, but allegations of corruption led her and 19 other commission members to resign in 1999. In 2003 she was charged by Belgium with fraud relating to contracts prepared by her EU office in the late 1990s.
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