Irene Rigau i Oliver is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

politician from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, born in

Banyoles Banyoles () is a city of 20,168 inhabitants (2021) located in the province of Girona in northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The town is the capital of the Catalan ''comarca'' "Pla de l'Estany". Although an established industrial centre many of the ...

(

Pla de l'Estany Pla de l'Estany () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. Its name means "plain of the lake", the lake in question being the Lake of Banyoles. Banyoles is also the name of the capital of the comarca and home to over half of its people. Pla ...

County) in 1951.Irene Rigau Oliver, 'consellera' de Ensenyament

El Periódico de Catalunya ''El Periódico de Catalunya'' (, ), also simply known as ''El Periódico'', is a morning daily newspaper based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The paper publishes separate daily editions in Spanish and in Catalan. The two editions combined sel ...

, 12 February 2013

Early life and education

A teacher by profession, Rigau holds a psychology degree from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

and a diploma in public sector management from

ESADE Business School ESADE Business School is a private college and graduate school located in Barcelona, Spain. It is part of ESADE (Catalan: ''Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses'', Spanish: ''Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de E ...

. In the education sector, Rigau has been a primary school teacher and a schools inspector. She also got licensed as secondary school teacher. Rigau has lectured on psycho-pedagogy at The

University of Girona The University of Girona ( ca, Universitat de Girona, UdG (); ;) is located in the city of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its real origin dates back to its creation in 1446, but it was reestablished as a new university in 1991. As of 2021, it consists ...

Education Department and on educational policy and schools legislation at the

Open University of Catalonia The Open University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC; ) is a private open university based in Barcelona, Spain. The UOC offers graduate and postgraduate programs in Catalan, Spanish and English in fields such as Psy ...

(UOC). From 1982 to 1999 she held a number of management posts in the Catalan administration.

Political career and conviction

Her political career includes four years as Catalan Minister for welfare and family issues (1999-2003). In December 2012 she was appointed education minister of the Government of Catalonia. From 2003 to 2006 she was a member of the Catalan Parliament for

Girona Province Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the n ...

, and from 2006 to 2017 for

Barcelona Province Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Jordi Pujol Jordi Pujol Soley (, born 9 June 1930) is a Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003. Early life Pujol was ...

, and Minister of Education from 2010 to 2016 with Artur Mas. Rigau appeared in court in Barcelona on 13 October 2015, to face criminal charges of having assisted in the organisation of the 2014 Catalan self-determination referendum, which the Spanish courts deemed illegal. President

Artur Mas Artur Mas i Gavarró (; born 31 January 1956) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015 and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016. Mas is a long time member of D ...

and vice president

Joana Ortega Joana Ortega i Alemany (born 13 November 1959 in Barcelona) was the vice president of the government of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Counsellor of Government and Institutional Relations from 2010 until 2015. She has also been a deputy at the ...

also faced charges. Large public protests took place in Barcelona the same day in support of the accused. In March 2017, the

High Court of Justice of Catalonia The High Court of Justice of Catalonia ( ca, Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya, TSJC) is the highest body and last judicial instance of the Spanish judiciary in Catalonia. Unlike the Parliament of Catalonia (legislative branch) or the ...

condemned Artur Mas, Joana Ortega and Irene Rigau to fines and were barred from office between 18 and 24 months. Although they were acquitted of charges of misappropriation of public funds, The Court of Auditors has also been judging them as accounting officers for the referendum preparations and claims 5,2 million euros.

References

Living people 1961 births Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni ESADE alumni Members of the Parliament of Catalonia Education ministers of Catalonia Convergence and Union politicians Social affairs ministers of Catalonia People from Pla de l'Estany 20th-century Spanish politicians 20th-century Spanish women politicians 21st-century Spanish politicians 21st-century Spanish women politicians Members of the 11th Parliament of Catalonia Women members of the Parliament of Catalonia Spanish politicians convicted of crimes {{Catalonia-politician-stub