Matilde Fernández (born 24 January 1950) is a Spanish social feminist and politician who served as

minister of social affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

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") , ...

from 1988 to 1993.

Early life

Fernández was born on 24 January 1950 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

Career

Fernández was a member and the leader of the labor union movement. She joined the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in go ...

(PSOE), being part of the reformist group within it. In 1984, she became a member of the PSOE's federal executive committee and was appointed head of the secretariat for women’s participation. She was appointed

to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Felipe Gonzales Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy pe ...

in 1988. Fernández became the first minister of social affairs since the ministry was established by her appointment. She was backed by the PSOE group led by

Alfonso Guerra Alfonso Guerra González (born 31 May 1940) is a Spanish politician. A leading member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served as vice president of the government (''vicepresidente del Gobierno'', i.e., equivalent to deputy pri ...

. She was replaced by

Cristina Alberdi Cristina Alberdi (born 22 February 1946) is a Spanish politician and lawyer. She served as the 2nd and last minister of social affairs from 1993 to 1996. Education and career Graduating in law, from 1970 she was a lawyer of the Colegio de Abogad ...

in the post in 1993. In the Spanish Congress, she represented

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the ea ...

from 1989 to 2000. In 2000, she ran for the PSOE presidency, but lost election to

José Luis Zapatero José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. Her candidacy was backed by the faction called guerristas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Matilde 20th-century Spanish women politicians 1950 births Government ministers of Spain Living people Madrid city councillors (1999–2003) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 6th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Politicians from Madrid Spanish feminists Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Women government ministers of Spain