Lígia Fonseca

Ligia Fonseca
First Lady of Cape Verde
Assumed office
September 9, 2011
President Jorge Carlos Fonseca
Preceded by Adélcia Barreto Pires
Personal details
Born Lígia Arcângela Lubrino Dias
(1963-08-24) August 24, 1963
Beira, Portuguese Mozambique
Political party Movement for Democracy
Spouse(s)
Children Three
Alma mater University of Lisbon
Profession Lawyer

Lígia Arcângela Lubrino Dias Fonseca (born August 24, 1963) is a Cape Verdean lawyer, activist, and politician who has served as the First Lady of Cape Verde since 2011. Fonseca became the first female president of the Cape Verdian Lawyers' Association (OAC), the country's national bar association, in 2001.[1][2][3] She is married to Cape Verdean President Jorge Carlos Fonseca.

Biography

Fonseca was born Lígia Arcângela Lubrino Dias in Beira, Portuguese Mozambique, on August 24, 1963, to Canta Dias and Máximo Dias.[3][4] Her father, Máximo Dias, was a Mozambican lawyer, politician and leader of the MONAMO political party.[3][4] In 1976, her family moved to Lisbon, Portugal, due to political instability in Mozambique.[3]

Dias remained in Lisbon, despite hopes of returning to Beira.[3] She enrolled at the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon, where she earned her law degree.[3][4] She met her future husband, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, who was Cape Verdean in 1987 while attending the university.[3] The couple married on March 26, 1989, at a ceremony in Portugal.[3] They had three daughters.[4]

They then moved to Macau, where he husband had been hired as a law professor at the University of Macau.[3] The couple moved to Cape Verde in 1991, marking the first time she had lived in an African country since leaving Mozambique in 1976.[3]

On April 30, 2001, Fonseca became the first woman to be elected President of the Cape Verdian Lawyers' Association (Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde).[1][2][5] A dissenting group of lawyers argued that she had not been a member of OAC for at least 10 years, but her election was upheld.[2] Fonseca inuaguration as the first female head of the OAC took place on May 19, 2001.[5] She served as President from 2001 until 2004, when she was succeeded by Dr. Carlos Alberto Veiga.[5]

Jorge Carlos Fonseca was elected President in the second round of the 2011 Cape Verdean presidential election, making Ligia Fonseca the fourth First Lady of Cape Verde.[4] Ligia Fonseca sought to focus on social issues during her tenure.[3][4] She continued to practice law as an active lawyer after becoming first lady.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 "Woman Heads Cape Verde's Lawyers Association". PanaPress. AllAfrica.com. 2001-05-02. Archived from the original on 2001-05-02. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  2. 1 2 3 "Woman heads Cape Verde's lawyers association". PanaPress. 2001-05-02. Archived from the original on 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Lígia Dias Fonseca — Dedicação e trabalho em prol do bem-estar social". Nós Genti. 2016-07-28. Archived from the original on 2017-11-11. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Presidente-eleito de Cabo Verde é genro de Máximo Dias". Correio da Manhã. Jornal @Verdade. 2011-08-24. Archived from the original on 2017-11-19. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  5. 1 2 3 "Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde breve historia". Cape Verdian Lawyers' Association. Archived from the original on 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
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