Gemma Geis i Carreras (born 9 November 1979) is a Spanish academic and politician from Catalonia, former member of the regional Parliament of Catalonia and Catalan minister of Research and Universities of Catalonia between 2021 and 2022.

Early life

Geis was born on 9 November 1979 in Girona, Catalonia. Her great-grandfather was a Republican Left of Catalonia mayor of Sarrià de Ter in the 1930s and was later imprisoned by the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

Franco dictatorship. Her great-uncle was author and composer Camil Geis. Geis and her sister Cristina grew up in the Pont Major neighbourhood of Girona where their parents Martí and Quimeta had a metal workshop. As a child she helped out in the family business. Geis was educated at Institut Carles Rahola where she was a contemporary of

Roger Torrent Roger Torrent i Ramió (born 19 July 1979) is a Spanish politician and urban planner from Catalonia. A former mayor of the municipality of Sarrià de Ter in north-eastern Spain, Torrent was President of the Parliament of Catalonia from January 20 ...

. She has a degree in law (1998-02) from the University of Girona (UdG) and a master's degree in legal practice from the Barcelona Bar Association (Il·lustre Col·legi d'Advocats de Barcelona). In 2011 the UdG awarded her an extraordinary prize for her 2008 law doctorate thesis "''La Ejecución de las Sentencias Urbanísticas''" (The Execution of Urban Judgments). For her doctorate she carried out research at the University of Florence, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Harvard University.

Career

Geis practiced law at the Bar Association of Girona (Il·lustre Col·legi d'Advocats de Girona) but is currently registered as a non-practicing lawyer. She was a member of the Prague Group of Jurists. She has been teaching at the UdG since 2003 and is currently

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

of administrative law. She was vice-rector of Regulatory Development, Governance and Communication at the UdG from 2013 to 2017. Geis was a member of the Girona monitoring committee for the

2014 Catalan self-determination referendum A non-binding Catalan self-determination referendum, also known as the Citizen Participation Process on the Political Future of Catalonia, was held on Sunday, 9 November 2014, to gauge support on the political future of Catalonia. While also ref ...

(9-N). She was invited by Carles Puigdemont to contest the municipal elections in Girona but declined. However, following the

2017 Catalan independence referendum An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Autonomous communities of Spain, Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and cal ...

(1-O), she decided to temporarily suspend her academic career and enter politics. She contested the 2017 regional election as an independent Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance candidate in the

Province of Girona Girona (; es, Gerona ; french: Gérone) is a province of Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest by the province of Barcelona, on the ...

and was elected to the Parliament of Catalonia. She was re-elected at the 2021 regional election. Considered a Puigdemont ally, she was heavily involved in JuntsxCat and the

National Call for the Republic The National Call for the Republic ( ca, Crida Nacional per la República, Crida or CNxR) is a pro-independence, big tent political party in Catalonia. It aimed at uniting pro-independence political parties and organisations throughout Catalonia t ...

. On 26 May 2021 she was sworn in as Minister of Research and Universities in the new government of President Pere Aragonès.

Other activities

* Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Member of the Board of TrusteesGovernance
Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). *

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, Member

Personal life

Geis has two children.

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geis, Gemma 1979 births Academics from Catalonia Aragonès Government Independent politicians in Catalonia Lawyers from Catalonia Living people Government ministers of Catalonia Members of the 12th Parliament of Catalonia Members of the 13th Parliament of Catalonia National Call for the Republic politicians People from Girona Together for Catalonia (2017) politicians Together for Catalonia (2020) politicians University of Girona alumni Academic staff of the University of Girona Women members of the Parliament of Catalonia