Eva Son-Forget

Eva Son-Forget (; born 15 April 1983), formerly known as Joachim Son-Forget, is a South Korean-born French politician who lives in Switzerland. She also holds Kosovar (since 2018 ) and Swiss citizenships (since 2020 ).

Adopted by a French family as a child, Son-Forget holds a doctorate in neuroscience and has experience working as a radiologist in Switzerland. She was previously active within the Socialist Party (PS), then liberal party La République En Marche! (LREM) until she resigned from the party in late 2018. She then founded her own political party Valeur Absolue, and between 2021 and 2022 was active alongside far-right party Reconquête. Son-Forget has variously labeled herself a liberal, a right-winger, a supporter of the European Union and of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Since her election as a member of the National Assembly in 2017, Son-Forget has made multiple appearances in interviews and talk shows and is an active user of social media. and has been the subject of controversy within French politics.

Biography

Early life

Born in South Korea, Son-Forget was adopted by a French family as a child and grew up in Langres, before studying in Dijon, Paris and Lausanne.

In 2005, she received a Master 2 in cognitive science from CogMaster (co-accredited by Paris Descartes University, EHESS and ENS Ulm) with cognitive psychologist Stanislas Dehaene. In 2008 she graduated at the end of the second cycle (Master 2) of medical studies at the University of Burgundy. In 2015, she obtained a doctorate MD-PhD in medicine and cognitive neuroscience. The subject of her thesis was "Visuo-vestibular mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness".

Political career

Son-Forget supported Socialist candidate François Hollande during the 2012 French presidential election. She was secretary of the Geneva section of the French Socialist Party within the Federation of French Abroad, and chairman of the committee of activists of the Party of European Socialists in Switzerland, before taking leave in 2014. In 2017, she joined then-presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's political movement, "En Marche!" which later became La République En Marche (LREM).

2017 French legislative election Son-Forget was the LREM candidate in the 2017 French legislative election for the sixth constituency for French residents overseas, which covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein. She progressed to the second round and defeated Republican candidate Claudine Schmid with 74.94% of the vote and 18.78% turnout.

Member of the National Assembly As a member of the National Assembly, Son-Forget sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee and served as president of the France-South Korea relations group and vice-president of the France-Kosovo relations group. With La France Insoumise (LFI) member Jean-Luc Mélenchon, she co-wrote a report on France's strategy on seas and oceans.

In October 2018, she was a candidate in an internal election for Executive Officer of LREM, opposing fellow Member of Parliament Stanislas Guerini. She was defeated with 18% of the vote. She declared she was still supporting President Macron.

In January 2019, Son-Forget joined center-right parliamentary group UDI, Agir and Independents and left in December of that year. She sat as a Non-Attached member of the National Assembly for the remainder of her mandate.

2022 French elections

In February 2020, invited on talk show Touche pas à mon poste !, Son-Forget announced she would run for the 2022 French presidential election, introducing Alexandre Benalla (former deputy chief of staff to Emmanuel Macron) as one of her supporters. Previously, Son-Forget had attempted to have Benalla hired as her parliamentary assistant, but her application was rejected by the National Assembly.

In 2021, Son-Forget began assisting and actively gathering support for far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour early in Zemmour's campaign. She eventually ran for re-election in her constituency as an independent candidate and was defeated in the first round with 4.5% of the vote.

In December 2022, Son-Forget announced she had joined the Democratic Union of the Centre (also known as Swiss People's Party or SVP), a national-conservative party in Switzerland. It was later reported that Son-Forget would temporarily join the local branch of the SVP in Yverdon-les-Bains.

Controversies On 23 December 2018, through her Twitter account, Son-Forget called out Green Senator Esther Benbassa for her recent remarks on the yellow vests movement; additionally, Son-Forget made derogatory comments about Benbassa's makeup habits. The controversy that ensued prompted her to address "haters" through satirical statements and Internet memes. This behavior was criticized by fellow members of LREM; Executive Officer Stanislas Guerini announced the party would issue her a "warning letter". Son-Forget, who stated her intent was to go viral on social media using "cognitive psychology", A similar incident happened in January 2021 after Twitter's permanent account suspension of Donald Trump, when Son-Forget edited her account to impersonate Trump; Twitter subsequently suspended Son-Forget's own account.

Personal life Son-Forget currently lives in Switzerland with her three children. and was a Vice-President of the France-Kosovo relations group in the French National Assembly. and practices long range shooting and various martial arts such as karate.

In 2024, Son-Forget, born as a male, began reflecting on her gender identity. In November 2024, she publicly came out as a trans woman. Her first name was legally changed to Eva and her gender to female in the Canton of Geneva. She was taken into custody, and on 17 June was placed under judicial supervision and charged with failure to obey a police order after reckless driving, driving under the influence and fleeing the scene after causing material damage. Her trial was due for 29 August 2024. "