Marianne Thieme

Marianne Louise Thieme (, born March 6, 1972 in Ede) is a Dutch politician of the Party for the Animals (Partij voor de Dieren). She has been Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives since November 23, 2006 and an MP since November 30, 2006.
A jurist by education and an animal rights activist and author by occupation.
== Biography ==
=== Life before politics ===
Marianne Thieme studied at the Duno College in Doorwerth. After that she studied from 1991 to 1992 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. From 1992 she studied law at Erasmus University Rotterdam with a specialization in administrative law. During this time she became a vegetarian. Her interest in animal rights motivated her to start studying law. Thieme graduated in 1997.
From 1998 to 2001 Marianne Thieme worked at research agengy B&A Group in The Hague. Between 2001 and 2004 she was policy official at Bont voor Dieren (Fur for Animals, a Dutch anti-fur animal welfare foundation). Until November 2006 she was the general manager of Stichting Wakker Dier (a Dutch animal welfare foundation against industrial agriculture).
=== Political life ===
In October 2002 she and other animal protectionists founded the Party for Animals (Partij voor de Dieren). During the Dutch general election of 2003 the party gained 50.000 votes (0.5%), but not a seat in the House of Representatives.
In February 2004 she was nominated to become the party's lijsttrekker (party leader) for the European Parliament election of 2004. This time the party gained 153.000 votes (3.2%), three times as much as in the 2002 Dutch general election. Still the number of votes was not enough to obtain a seat in the European Parliament.
During the Dutch general election of 2006 the Party for Animals gained 179,988 votes (1.8%), enough for two seats in the Dutch parliament. The party became the world's first party to gain parliamentary seats with an agenda focused primarily on animal rights.
Marianne Thieme always concludes her speeches in Parliament with the phrase "Voorts zijn wij van mening dat er een einde moet komen aan de bio-industrie." ("Furthermore we are of the opinion that factory farming has to be ended."), referring to Cato the Elder's famous conclusion of his speeches with Carthago delenda est.
=== Private life ===
She became a Seventh-day Adventist in 2006 "because [it is] a church with compassion and care for our planet."
Marianne Thieme has a daughter (Annika, born 2002) and lives in Maarssen. On 6 November 2008, she married Jaap Korteweg, an organic farmer from Langeweg, with whom she had a second daughter (Amélie, born 2012)https://www.partijvoordedieren.nl/recent/weblogs/i/mariannethieme/2360.
== Bibliography ==
*In May 2004 her book De eeuw van het dier (The century of the animal) was published. In this book animal rights are at the centre point. A line is drawn from the end of slavery through women's liberation to animal rights.
== See also ==
* List of Dutch politicians
== References ==
* Parlement.com biography
== External links ==
* Meat the Truth (2007) documentary, DVD, book
* Marianne Thieme's weblog
* House of Representatives biography
* IMDB information about documentary
Category:1972 births
Category:Living people
Category:Animal rights advocates
Category:Dutch activists
Category:Dutch bloggers
Category:Dutch jurists
Category:Dutch non-fiction writers
Category:Dutch politicians
Category:Dutch Seventh-day Adventists
Category:Dutch vegetarians
Category:Dutch women in politics
Category:Dutch women writers
Category:Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni
Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
Category:Party Chairs of the Party for the Animals
Category:Party leaders of the Party for the Animals
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Category:People from Ede, Netherlands
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ca:Marianne Thieme
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Category:1972 births
Category:Living people
Category:Animal rights advocates
Category:Dutch activists
Category:Dutch bloggers
Category:Dutch jurists
Category:Dutch non-fiction writers
Category:Dutch politicians
Category:Dutch Seventh-day Adventists
Category:Dutch vegetarians
Category:Dutch women in politics
Category:Dutch women writers
Category:Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni
Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands
Category:Party Chairs of the Party for the Animals
Category:Party leaders of the Party for the Animals
Category:Party for the Animals politicians
Category:People from Ede, Netherlands
Category:People from Maarssen
Category:Women activists