Sophie Varet

**Sophie Anne-Marie Varet** (born 30 December 1970) is a Maronan politician and lawyer from Tahare who has served as the mayor of Sainte-Anne since 2016. A member of the Socialist Party, Varet has additionally served as a member of the Council of Sainte-Anne since 2010, and as a member of the General Council of Tahare from 2016 to 2023.

Varet was born and raised in Sainte-Anne to a middle-class family. After completing her secondary education in 1989, Varet received a law degree from the University of Tahare in 1992, and a master's degree in criminal law from the University of Valenême in 1994. Following her graduation, Varet was admitted to the Maronan Bar and worked as a criminal defense attorney in Valenême. She later enrolled in the École nationale de la magistrature, and graduated in 2001. After completing her education, Varet returned to Sainte-Anne and began working as a public prosecutor.

Varet began her political career in 2010, when she was elected to the Council of Sainte-Anne in the 2010 local election. Following the retirement of Jean-Louis Boyer, she was later chosen to lead the Pour La Tahare ! alliance into the 2016 election, which the alliance won, leading to Varet being elected mayor. The same year, she was additionally elected to the General Council of Tahare in the 2016 regional election. Varet was reelected as mayor in the 2022 local election.

## Early life and education

Varet was born on 30 December 1970 in Sainte-Anne, on the island of Tahare, to parents Édouard (born 1943) and Cymbeline Varet (née *Lacaille*; born 1945). Her father worked as a manager at a local shipping port and her mother was a primary school teacher. Varet was raised in the middle-class neighborhood of La Ditrone as the eldest of three children; her younger siblings include Josseline (born 1973) and Cédric (born 1976).

Varet began her education in 1976, attending public schooling. While in school, Varet was both a gifted student and an athlete who played volleyball and football. She completed primary school in 1983, and later graduated from *collège* in 1986. While a teenager, Varet grew to be 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) tall, but suffered a knee injury at age 16 which led her to stop playing sports. She briefly considered either pursuing a career as a model or applying for the Miss Tahare pageant after having been recruited in a Sainte-Anne shopping mall, but ultimately decided to pursue her academics instead after consulting with her parents. Varet enrolled in Lycée Salomé Louis to study a *lycée académique* program in economics and social sciences, and graduated with honors in 1989. After graduating, Varet enrolled in the University of Tahare as a law student, and graduated with her law degree in 1992. She subsequently relocated to metropolitan Marone to enroll in the University of Valenême, and completed her master's degree in criminal law and procedure in 1994. After several years of working as an attorney in Valenême, Varet enrolled in the École nationale de la magistrature in 1999, and graduated in 2001.

## Legal career

Varet began her legal career in 1994, after being admitted to the Maronan Bar in Valenême. She subsequently began working at the law firm Jean-Pierre Poulichet & Associés, which specialized in criminal defense. While at the firm, Varet worked as a criminal defense attorney, primarily dealing with crimes of non-violent nature. She later left the firm in 1999, in order to enroll in the École nationale de la magistrature (ENMg).

After her graduation from the ENMg in 2001, Varet became licensed to work as both a public prosecutor and judge in Marone. She was subsequently hired by the Office of the Prosecutor and assigned to work in Tahare as an assistant public prosecutor. In the position, Varet focused on crimes of a violent nature, in addition to thefts, robberies, and sexual assaults. She was promoted to public prosecutor in 2005, and eventually become the deputy director of the newly established Bureau for Crimes Against Women and Children at the Tahare Office of the Prosecutor in 2008. In the position, Varet focused on crimes of violent nature which targeted women and children, particularly murder, abduction, sexual assault, and child abuse. Varet later left her legal career in 2010, following the beginning of her political career.

## Political career

### Early politics

Varet joined the Socialist Party in 2007, and began to become more politically active in her life. She has said that her inspiration for becoming more political was her career as a public prosecutor, and her belief that the criminal justice system should be reformed. She was later included as a Socialist candidate on the Pour La Tahare ! electoral list in the 2010 local election in Sainte-Anne, where she was elected to the Council of Sainte-Anne. Following her election, Varet was appointed by incumbent mayor Jean-Louis Boyer to serve as deputy mayor for public safety, security, and the prevention of crime in his mayoral cabinet. Within three years in office, the Sainte-Anne crime rate decreased by over 50%.

In 2016, Varet was included as a Socialist candidate on the Pour La Tahare ! electoral list in the 2016 regional election, and was elected to the General Council. She was reelected to the position in the 2022 regional election, but following the abolition of dual mandates in Maronan politics in February 2023, Varet resigned her seat in the General Council and she was replaced by her deputy Lucie Vidiacharan.

### Mayor of Sainte-Anne

In January 2016, Boyer announced that he would retire from politics and not lead the governing coalition into the upcoming 2016 local election. Following his announcement, Varet was later selected by coalition members as their leader for the election, becoming just the second woman to lead the alliance into the municipal election. The alliance went on to win the election, and Varet was sworn in as mayor of Sainte-Anne on 20 June 2016. As the mayor, she also serves *ex-officio* as president of the Sainte-Anne métropole and of the Sainte-Anne Grand Council.

In her capacity as mayor, Varet has devoted her administration to improving public safety, executing on a green agenda and protecting the city's ecology, and improving residents' access to local services. Under her authority, she opened a fifth city all in the Équine neighborhood in order to improve access to government services for the working-class communities in Équine, Le Marécage, and Vérune. Following the victory of Gisèle Frédérique-Betsch in the 2018 presidential election, Varet was named to the shortlist for potential justice minister and overseas regions minister appointments. The Maronan media reported that she was interviewed for the latter position and was included on the final three-person shortlist, but ultimately was not selected. Varet was later reelected to her position as mayor in the 2022 local election.

## Personal life

Varet married Dominique Auguste in 2004, following a two-year relationship. Varet and Auguste were both attorneys working as public prosecutors out of Sainte-Anne when they met. They have one daughter together: Salomé (born 2006), while Varet is additionally the stepmother to Auguste's two sons from his first marriage. The family resides in the Le Moulin neighborhood of Sainte-Anne.