Maria Leonor Couceiro Pizarro Beleza GCC (born 23 November 1948), is a Portuguese politician.

Career

She is daughter of José Júlio Pizarro Beleza and Maria dos Prazeres Lançarote Couceiro da Costa. Her brother is former Minister of Finance Miguel Beleza. Member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

, she served twice as Minister of Health in the

Portuguese government , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...

. She is the 1st President of the

Champalimaud Foundation The Champalimaud Foundation ( pt, Fundação Champalimaud) is a private biomedical research foundation. It was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur António de Sommer Champalimaud, in 2004. The complete name of the foundation h ...

. Leonor Beleza is a graduate of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

Law School, where she has also worked as an assistant professor. During a distinguished professional career she has held a number of high-profile public offices. Among other positions, she was Secretary of State of the Presidency of the Cabinet (1982–1983), Secretary of State for Social Security (1983–1985), and Minister of Health (1985–1990) in the Portuguese Government. She has been elected as a Member of Parliament on several occasions and on two occasions she has served as Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic (1991–1994, 2002–2005). In addition to her prominent role in public affairs Mrs Beleza has also played an active role in the private sector. Leonor Beleza is currently the Chairman of the Portuguese League for People with Physical Disabilities, chairman of the advisory board of the D. Pedro IV Foundation, and a member of the General Councils of the CEBI Foundation and of the Gil Foundation. She is also a vigorous campaigner for women's rights, a cause she has supported for many years. In 2004, Leonor Beleza was appointed Chairman of the Champalimaud Foundation by the will of António Champalimaud. Leonor Beleza headed the ''Banco Totta & Açores'' Supervisory Board (1995–1998) and member of the BCP's (''Banco Comercial Português'') General Council and Supervisory Board (2011–2013).

Marriage and issue

She married Diogo de Mendonça Rodrigues Tavares and had two children: * Mariana da Conceição Beleza de Mendonça Tavares (born

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, 4 December 1975); by Bernardo Maria Correia Mendes Pinheiro Torres (born Lisbon, 29 February 1976) she had one daughter Maria Beatriz Beleza Tavares Pinheiro Torres (born Lisbon, 13 October 1999) * Miguel Couceiro Beleza de Mendonça Tavares (born 8 March 1979)

AIDS scandal

In 2001, a Portuguese court indicted Beleza propagating a contagious disease during her time as Health Minister during the 1980s. More than 100 Portuguese

haemophiliac Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly hereditary, inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to coagulation, make blood clots, a process needed to hemostasis, stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer ti ...

s had become infected with the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

virus after receiving transfusions of contaminated plasma that had been imported and distributed by the public health service, part of the larger worldwide

contaminated haemophilia blood products Contaminated hemophilia blood products were a serious public health problem in the late 1970s up to 1985. These products caused large numbers of hemophiliacs to become infected with HIV and hepatitis C. The companies involved included Alpha Ther ...

scandal.

Honours

Portuguese National Honours

Grand-Cross of the Order of Christ, Portugal (9 June 2005)

Foreign Honours

ISL Icelandic Order of the Falcon - Grand Cross BAR

Grand-Cross of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

(25 February 1994)

References

Living people 1948 births Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians Health ministers of Portugal Contaminated haemophilia blood products 20th-century Portuguese women politicians Women government ministers of Portugal {{Portugal-politician-stub