Dolores Cristina (born January 10, 1949Page at Maltese Department of Information website
) is a former Maltese politician who served in a number of ministerial positions under a number of Nationalist Governments.

Early life and education

Cristina was born in

Senglea Senglea ( mt, L-Isla ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittorios ...

. She graduated from the Royal University of Malta with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) degree in 1971 and held teaching posts in History and English at Secondary and Post-Secondary levels.

Political career

Cristina, a member of the Nationalist Party, stood as a candidate in the 1996 general election. She briefly became Mayor of

Swieqi Swieqi ( mt, Is-Swieqi) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta. It is a residential area just 15 minutes by bus from Sliema and within walking distance of Malta's nightlife and entertainment centres, Paceville and St. Julian's. As the town ...

in April 1998 before being elected to Parliament from the 10th District in the September 1998 general election. Cristina was re-elected to Parliament from the 9th District in the April 2003 general election. Subsequently she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry of Social Policy, with a special focus on Social Housing and Gender Equality. She was later appointed as Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity in a cabinet reshuffle on 23 March 2004, with a portfolio including Social Policy, Family Policy, Child Policy, Solidarity Services, Social Security, Social Housing and Equality. After the Nationalist victory in the March 2008 general election, Cristina was appointed as Minister for Education and Culture, replacing the unelected former Minister

Louis Galea Louis Galea (born 2 January 1948) is a Maltese politician who was Malta's representative on the European Court of Auditors from 2010 till 2016. Previously he served in the government of Malta as Minister of Education from 1998 to 2008 and was S ...

. Dolores Cristina acted as the President of Malta on 19 March 2013. She assumed this role in absence of The President of Malta, H.E. Dr. George Abela, when the latter led a delegation to the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

, to assist to the

Papal inauguration of Pope Francis The papal inauguration of Pope Francis was held on 19 March 2013 in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City, Vatican. Holy Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis before political and religious leaders from around the world. The crowd was estimated b ...

."Dolores Cristina to be acting President next week"
''Times of Malta'', March 12, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristina, Dolores 1949 births Living people Members of the House of Representatives of Malta Nationalist Party (Malta) politicians People from Senglea Government ministers of Malta Women government ministers of Malta 20th-century Maltese women politicians 20th-century Maltese politicians 21st-century Maltese women politicians 21st-century Maltese politicians