Marije Cornelissen

Marije Cornelissen (March 9, 1974 in Stiens) is a Dutch politician. In the 2009 she was elected to the European Parliament, she served between 14 July 2009 and 1 July 2014.

Life before politics

Cornelissen grew up in a leftwing and feminist family. At a young age she participated in the demonstrations against the presence of weapons of mass destruction in the Netherlands. As the only atheist student she attended a strict catholic primary school. Cornelissen studied international relations at the University of Utrecht, where specialized in conflict studies.

Since the 1990s Cornelissen has been active in the GreenLeft. Between 1996 and 1997 she worked as assistant to MEP Nel van Dijk on women's rights (between 1996 and 1997). In addition she was active in the Feminist Network of the GreenLeft (chair between 1996 and 2001) and she was active in the European Green Party, where she coordinated the dialogue between East and West European Greens (Dutch delegate between 1999 and 2006). She also worked at the party bureau (1997–1999) and was a member of the party board (2001–2005). Between 2002 and 2003 she was international secretary of the GreenLeft where she participated in the Dutch demonstrations against the War in Iraq. In 2004 European Parliament election she was put on the eight spot of the GreenLeft list.