Matilde Fernández

Matilde Fernández
Minister of Social Affairs
In office 1988–1993
Prime Minister	Felipe González
Succeeded by	Cristina Alberdi
Personal details
Born	Matilde Fernández Sanz (1950-01-24) 24 January 1950 (age 74) Madrid, Spain
Political party	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Alma mater	Complutense University of Madrid

Matilde Fernández (born 24 January 1950) is a Spanish social feminist and politician who served as minister of social affairs of Spain from 1988 to 1993.

Early life and education

Fernández was born on 24 January 1950 in Madrid.[1][2] She graduated from the Complutense University of Madrid, receiving a degree in psychology.[3]

Career

Following her graduation Fernández worked as an industrial psychologist in different companies.[3] Later she became a member and the leader of the labor union movement.[4][5] She began to serve as the general secretary of the Federation of Chemical Industries of the Unión General de Trabajadores in 1977.[3] Between 1982 and 1988 she was the general secretary of the Chemical and Energy Industries.[3] She joined the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) being part of the reformist group within it.[6] In 1984, she became a member of the PSOE's federal executive committee and was appointed head of the secretariat for women’s participation.[5]

Fernández was appointed minister of social affairs to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales in 1988.[7][8] Fernández became the first minister of social affairs since the ministry was established by her appointment.[9][10] She was backed by the PSOE group led by Alfonso Guerra.[11] She was replaced by Cristina Alberdi in the post in 1993.[4] In the Spanish Congress, she represented Cantabria from 1989 to 2000. From 1999 to 2003 Fernández was a councilor for the Madrid City Council.[3]

In 2000, Fernández ran for the PSOE presidency, but lost election to José Luis Zapatero.[12][13] Her candidacy was backed by the faction called guerristas.[14] She was a regional deputy at the Assembly of Madrid from 2003 to May 2015.[3]

Fernández became a board member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Spain in 2007.[3] She was elected as a senator in 2008 and served in the IXth Legislature until 2011.[15] As of 2018 Fernández was serving as the president of the UNHCR in Spain.[16] Then she was made one of its honorary members.[3]

References

1. "Matilde Fernández". IMDb. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
2. "Matilde Fernández "Hay que ver errores y nuevas propuestas"". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 23 January 2012. ProQuest 917101007. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
3. "Matilde Fernández Sanz. Socia de honor". UNHCR (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2023.
4. Manuel Castells (2011). The Power of Identity: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. Vol. II (2nd ed.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-4443-5629-8.
5. Mona Lena Krook; Sarah Childs (2010). Women, Gender, and Politics: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195368819.
6. José Luis Martí; Philip Pettit (2010). A Political Philosophy in Public Life: Civic Republicanism in Zapatero's Spain. Princeton, NJ; Oxford: Princeton University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4008-3505-8. JSTOR j.ctt7sbkt.
7. Alan Riding (10 July 1994). "Spaniards grow disenchanted with a once-charismatic leader". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
8. Harry Debelius (9 July 1988). "Reshuffle by González strengthens hand of Socialist party centre". The Times. No. 63129. London. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
9. Celia Valiente (1995). "Rejecting the past: central government and family policy in post-authoritarian Spain (1975-94)". Cross National Research Papers. 4 (3): 80–96. hdl:10016/4362.
10. Celia Valiente (June 1996). "The rejection of authoritarian policy legacies: family policy in Spain (1975–1995)". South European Society and Politics. 1 (1): 95–114. doi:10.1080/13608749608454718. hdl:10016/4436.
11. José Luis Marti; Philip Pettit (2010). A Political Philosophy in Public Life: Civic Republicanism in Zapatero's Spain. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691154473. JSTOR j.ctt7sbkt.
12. Charles Powell (December 2009). "A second transition, or more of the same? Spanish Foreign Policy under Zapatero". South European Society and Politics. 14 (4): 519–536. doi:10.1080/13608740903503886. S2CID 153664809.
13. Mónica Méndez Lago (2006). "Turning the Page: Crisis and Transformation of the Spanish Socialist Party". South European Society and Politics. 11 (3–4): 422. doi:10.1080/13608740600856447. S2CID 154946660.
14. Sebastain Balfour (2005). The Politics of Contemporary Spain. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415356787.
15. "IX Legislatura". senado.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 June 2023.
16. ""España vive con miedo a la inmigración"". El Mundo (in Spanish). 31 May 2018. ProQuest 2046965084. Retrieved 13 June 2023.

External links

• Media related to Matilde Fernández at Wikimedia Commons