Marisa Isabel dos Santos Matias (born 20 February 1976) is a Portuguese sociologist and politician. She is a member of the Assembly of the Republic since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. She was also a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

, between

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

. She currently seated on the Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committees. She was also Chairwoman of the Delegation of the European Parliament for relations with the

Mashreq The Mashriq (; ), also known as the Arab Mashriq (), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, as opposed to the Maghreb (western) region, and located in West Asia and easter ...

countries (Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria). Between 2010 and 2016 she was Vice-President of the

Party of the European Left The Party of the European Left (PEL), or European Left (EL), is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed ...

. In November 2015, Matias announced her candidacy for the

2016 Portuguese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 24 January 2016. The elections were called after choose the successor to the incumbent President of Portugal, president Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who was Constitution of Portugal, constitutionally not a ...

s, representing the Left Bloc party. She finished 3rd, with 10,12% of the votes, the best result ever achieved by a woman in a presidential election in Portugal at the time. She was also a candidate for Left Bloc in the

2021 Portuguese presidential election Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 24 January 2021. The incumbent President of Portugal, President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was reelected for a second term. The elections were held during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal, COVID-19 ...

in which she came 5th, with 3.95% of the vote.

Biography

Marisa Matias studied Sociology at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...

, where she completed her doctoral thesis: “Is nature sick of us? Health, environment and emerging forms of citizenship” (2009). Her areas of specialisation include environmental health, sociology of science, political sociology, democracy and participation. She has published several scientific articles, chapters in books and other publications, on the relations between environment and public health, science and knowledge, democracy and citizenship.

Civic and political activity

Matias is a member of the Left Bloc National Board and Executive Board; as well as a member of the board of ''Pro-Urbe'', a civic association in Coimbra. She was a national trustee of the movement "Cidadania e Responsabilidade pelo Sim", during the campaign for decriminalization of abortion in Portugal. She was also an activist in the movement against co-incineration in Souselas ( pt) and head of the Left Bloc list in the elections for Coimbra Municipality (2005).

Member of the European Parliament

2009 – 2014

In 2009, Matias was elected as a Member of the European Parliament ( MEP) for the Left Bloc, which sits as part of the political group

GUE/NGL The Left in the European Parliament (The Left) is a left-wing political group of the European Parliament established in 1995. Prior to January 2021 it was named the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (, GUE/NGL). The group is mainly compose ...

in the European Parliament. She was made a member of the Industry, Research and Energy Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee and a member of the delegations for relations with the Mashriq Countries, with

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, and with

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. At the beginning of her mandate, Matias was nominated the Parliament's

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

to write and negotiate the directive preventing the distribution of counterfeit medicines, a business that generates more than €400 billion per year for the counterfeiting networks and puts at risk the life of patients. The directive, negotiated for almost two years with the parliamentary groups and the governments, was approved in 2011. This was only the second time since Portugal's entrance into the EU that a Portuguese MEP had led the process of a framework-directive - a law that will be transposed to the judicial system of each of the EU Member States. At the same time, she was also rapporteur of the European strategy in the fight against

Alzheimer Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and other dementias, that was also approved in 2011. She was co-president of the European Work Group for

Diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, being co-author of the first resolution to ever be approved in the European Parliament aiming at the definition of a political strategy to fight the diabetes epidemic (2010). In addition, she was involved in the planning and approval of resolutions on cancer and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

, and was an active member of the parliamentary committee of inquiry on the H1N1 vaccine. In 2011, Matias was chosen by her peers, with more than 350 votes, as ''MEP of the Year'' for health - the only MEP from the United Left Parliamentary Group to receive this honour since its creation. Throughout 2011 and 2012, Matias was the Parliament's rapporteur for the definition of a ''Common Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation''. The report was approved in 2012 and established the bases for what should be the proposal for the

Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europe ...

programme on the European financing of research and innovation for the period 2014–2020. Besides the proposal to reinforce the funds and of a better geographical distribution of the funds, the approved proposal also included a significant increase of support to the scientific work and to the attribution of scholarships within the European financing framework. Later, would also be part of the team of six rapporteurs, nominated by the European Parliament, to the definition and negotiation of the proposal about the Horizon 2020, being responsible for one of the legislative regulations on the Strategic Agenda for Innovation. The legislative package would end up being approved at the end of 2013, being already active since January 2014. In 2012, she was still nominated rapporteur of the European Parliament for the evaluation of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

's (ECB) activities of 2011. In a very disputed process and hard negotiations, her report was narrowly approved by one vote (23 votes in favour, 22 against) in the ''

Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) is a committee of the European Parliament which is responsible for the regulation of financial services, the free movement of capital and payments, taxation and competition policies, oversight ...

''. The report was finally approved in April 2013, but Marisa Matias requested her name to be withdrawn as a result of last-minute amendments which removed all critical references to the ECB's role in the

European Troika The Troika is a term used to refer to the single decision group created by three entities, the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was formed due to the European debt crisis as ...

, and demands to return profits made by the ECB under the ECB's market securities programme. Marisa Matias was, still, the Parliament's rapporteur for four opinion on European strategy for adapting to climate change, resettling of GDP calculation, proposal for a new pluri-annual financing framework and regulation defining indexes on the goods traded in stock market. As shadow rapporteur, meaning, MEP responsible within its parliamentary group, to follow and negotiate proposals led by other colleagues from other parliamentary groups, Marisa Matias followed, during the mandate, the making of 25 parliamentary proposals, having presented proposals for change and being present in negotiation meetings. So far, was also co-author of 119 proposals of parliamentary resolutions. While Vice-President of the Parliament to the relations with the Mashreq countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt) was part and presided to several parliamentary negotiations with these countries, coordinating processes of negotiation with the correspondent national parliaments. This was also done during the period known for the transformations introduced by the Arab Spring. Marisa is also member of the Parliament's Delegation to the relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council, having developed initiatives mainly concerning the siege of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

Presidential candidacy

On 18 October 2015, Catarina Martins, coordinator of the Left Bloc, announced that, as no credible unifying leftist candidate had thus far come forward for the Presidential elections of January 2016, Marisa Matias allowed her name to be put forward as representing her party in those elections. She finished 3rd, with 10,12% of the votes, the best result ever achieved by a woman in a presidential election in Portugal. On 9 September 2021, Marisa Matias announced she would run for president again on the

Electoral history

European Parliament election, 2014

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Seats ! align="center" style="width: 50px", +/− , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PS , align=left , Francisco Assis , , 1,034,249 , , 31.5 , , 8 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PSD/CDS–PP , align=left ,

Paulo Rangel Paulo Artur dos Santos Castro de Campos Rangel (born 18 February 1968) is a Portuguese jurist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2024, in the XXIV Constitutional Government, led by ...

, , 910,647 , , 27.7 , , 7 , , style="color:red;", –3 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDU , align=left , João Ferreira , , 416,925 , , 12.7 , , 3 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", MPT , align=left , Marinho e Pinto , , 234,788 , , 7.2 , , 2 , , style="color:green;", +2 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", BE , align=left , Marisa Matias , , 149,764 , , 4.6 , , 1 , , style="color:red;", –2 , - , style="background:;", , align="left",

Livre Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Fre ...

, align=left , Rui Tavares , , 71,495 , , 2.2 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:teal;", , align="left", PAN , align=left , Orlando Figueiredo , , 56,431 , , 1.7 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:;", , align="left",

PCTP/MRPP The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Re-Organized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat (, PCTP/MRPP) is a Maoist political party in Portugal. History and overview The party was founded in 1970 as the (MRPP), led by Arnaldo de Matos. ...

, align=left , Leopoldo Mesquita , , 54,708 , , 1.7 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , style="background:white;", , colspan="2" align="left", Other parties , 111,765 , , 3.4 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , colspan="3" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 243,681 , , 7.4 , , – , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="3" align="left", Turnout , 3,284,452 , , 33.67 , , 21 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , colspan="7" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Presidential election, 2016

, - ! colspan="2" , Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic who is the president of Portugal since 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended his party membership for the ...

, , 2,413,956 , , 52.0 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Sampaio da Nóvoa , , 1,062,138 , , 22.9 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Marisa Matias , , 469,814 , , 10.1 , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

Maria de Belém Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, d ...

, , 196,765 , , 4.2 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Edgar Silva , , 183,051 , , 3.9 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Vitorino Silva , , 152,374 , , 3.3 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Paulo de Morais , , 100,191 , , 2.2 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Henrique Neto , , 39,163 , , 0.8 , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

Jorge Sequeira Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios'' ...

, , 13,954 , , 0.3 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Cândido Ferreira , , 10,609 , , 0.2 , - , colspan="2" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 102,552 , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="2" align="left", Turnout , 4,744,567 , , 48.66 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

European Parliament election, 2019

, - ! colspan="2" , Party ! Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Seats ! align="center" style="width: 50px", +/− , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PS , align=left , Pedro Marques , , 1,104,694 , , 33.4 , , 9 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", PSD , align=left ,

, , 725,399 , , 21.9 , , 6 , , ±0 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", BE , align=left , Marisa Matias , , 325,093 , , 9.8 , , 2 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDU , align=left , João Ferreira , , 228,045 , , 6.9 , , 2 , , style="color:red;", –1 , - , style="background:;", , align="left", CDS–PP , align=left , Nuno Melo , , 204,792 , , 6.2 , , 1 , , ±0 , - , style="background:teal;", , align="left", PAN , align=left ,

Francisco Guerreiro Francisco Guerreiro (born 12 September 1984) is a Portuguese politician currently serving as an independent Member of the European Parliament for Portugal, having been elected whilst standing as a candidate for People Animals Nature. Biography ...

, , 168,015 , , 5.1 , , 1 , , style="color:green;", +1 , - , style="background:#6AD1E3;", , align="left",

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

, align=left , Paulo Sande , , 61,652 , , 1.9 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:;", , align="left",

, align=left , Rui Tavares , , 60,446 , , 1.8 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , style="background:#202056;", , align="left", Basta! , align=left ,

André Ventura André Claro Amaral Ventura (; born 15 January 1983) is a Portuguese far-right politician, former sports pundit and trainee priest, and founder of the right-wing populist political party Chega. He acts as the leader of the opposition since Cheg ...

, , 49,388 , , 1.5 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:gold;", , align="left", NC , align=left , Paulo de Morais , , 34,634 , , 1.1 , , 0 , , ''new'' , - , style="background:white;", , colspan="2" align="left", Other parties , 116,743 , , 2.7 , , 0 , , ±0 , - , colspan="3" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 235,748 , , 3.5 , , – , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="3" align="left", Turnout , 3,307,644 , , 30.75 , , 21 , , ±0 , - , colspan="7" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Presidential election, 2021

, - ! colspan="2" , Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , style="background:;", , align=left ,

, , 2,531,692 , , 60.7 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Ana Gomes , , 540,823 , , 13.0 , - , style="background:#202056;", , align=left ,

, , 497,746 , , 11.9 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , João Ferreira , , 179,764 , , 4.3 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Marisa Matias , , 165,127 , , 4.0 , - , style="background:;", , align=left , Tiago Mayan Gonçalves , , 134,991 , , 3.2 , - , style="background:#00939d;", , align=left , Vitorino Silva , , 123,031 , , 3.0 , - , colspan="2" align="left", Blank/Invalid ballots , 85,182 , , – , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan="2" align="left", Turnout , 4,258,356 , , 39.26 , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Matias, Marisa 1976 births 21st-century women MEPs for Portugal Candidates for President of Portugal Left Bloc MEPs Left Bloc politicians Living people Members of the 16th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) MEPs for Portugal 2009–2014 MEPs for Portugal 2014–2019 MEPs for Portugal 2019–2024 Portuguese sociologists University of Coimbra alumni Women members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)