Yvan Ylieff is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 politician of the Francophone Socialist Party

Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)

The Socialist Party is a Francophone social-democratic political party in Belgium. As of the 2010 elections, it is the second largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the largest Francophone party...

.

Ylieff was born in Verviers

Verviers

Verviers is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. The Verviers municipality includes the old communes of Ensival, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Heusy...

, Liège

Liège (province)

Liège is the easternmost province of Belgium and belongs to the Walloon Region. It is an area of French and German ethnicity. It borders on the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and in Belgium the provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Walloon Brabant , and those of Flemish Brabant and Limburg . Its...

, to a Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n emigrant family. He graduated in history before engaging in politics. In 1973, he was elected mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of the municipality of Dison

Dison

Dison is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006 Dison had a total population of 14,243. The total area is 14.01 km² which gives a population density of 1,017 inhabitants per km²....

, a post he still holds as of 2010. From 1974 to 1995, he was a member of Belgian Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of the Belgian Federal Parliament

Belgian Federal Parliament

The Belgian Federal Parliament is a bicameral parliament. It consists of the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate . It sits in the Palace of the Nation .- Chamber of Representatives :...

. In 1988–1989, he was a Minister of National Education of Belgium; from 1989 to 1992, he served as the French Community of Belgium

French Community of Belgium

The French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...

's Minister of Culture and Higher Education. In 1995–1999, he was federal Minister of Scientific Policy and from 1999 to 2003 he was Government Commissioner of Scientific Issues.