Gotzone Sagardui (born 1966) is a Spanish politician affiliated with the Basque National Party. , she serves as

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the

Third Urkullu Government Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

led by

Iñigo Urkullu Íñigo Urkullu Renteria (born 18 September 1961) is a Spanish politician, and the Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Government since 2012. As the President of the Basque Government, he headed the First, Second and Third Urkullu Governments ...

. She previously served as city councillor in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

from 2017 to 2020, also serving as

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

from 2019. She was a Member of the Basque Parliament from 2016 to 2017. She holds a degree in

Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

from the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country ( eu, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, ''EHU''; es, Universidad del País Vasco, ''UPV''; UPV/EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Bilbao, initiall ...

Early life and education

Born in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

on 15 March 1966, she was raised in

Basauri Basauri is a major municipality of Biscay, in the Basque Country, an Autonomous Community in northern Spain. The town is a part of the Greater Bilbao conurbation, being only a few kilometers south of Bilbao. It is an industrial town that also i ...

and attended Lauro

Ikastola An (, plural ) is a type of primary and secondary school in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and (to a much lesser extent) the French Basque Country (see Basque Country) in which pupils are taught either entirely or predominantly in the ...

. She studied Medicine in the University of the Basque Country. She is an Expert on Workplace Risk Prevention from

Francisco de Vitoria University Francisco de Vitoria University ( es, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria) is a private university located in Pozuelo de Alarcón, in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is a Roman Catholic institution run by the Legion of Christ. It is named after ...

, and she holds a Master's Degree on University Management from the

University of Alcalá The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...

. She speaks Basque, Spanish, English and German, and she has some knowledge of French.

Career

She earned a civil servant position in the University of the Basque Country, and she worked as an administrative officer in its Biscay Campus. She was the care manager of

Leioa Leioa ( es, Lejona) is a municipality in Biscay, Basque Country, in northern Spain. It is located south of Getxo and Berango delimitating east and south with Erandio, Portugalete and Sestao. Today it is part of the Bilbao conurbation. Its populat ...

Care Center, a care home operated by the Social Assistance Institute of the Provincial Council of Biscay. From 2011 to 2012 she was the head of Bilbao's Women Council for Equality. In 2013, she was named the Director for Labour Activation of the Basque Employment Service (Lanbide), an autonomous entity of the

Basque Government The Basque Government ( eu, Eusko Jaurlaritza, es, Gobierno Vasco) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the ''Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque P ...

. She stepped down in 2016, in order to contest the 2016 Basque regional election. She was a Member of the Basque Parliament until 2017, upon being elected by her party to fill a vacancy in the City Council of Bilbao. She held different positions on the local government from 2017 to 2020. She was the Councillor for the Mayor's Office, Recruitment and Human Resources from 2017 to 2019, and she also coordinated the departments of Economic Development and Good Government. She was the second member of the Basque National Party's list to contest the 2019 Bilbao City Council election, and was subsequently named First Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Governance and Strategic Projects. After the 2020 Basque regional election Iñigo Urkullu, president of the Basque Government, appointed Sagardui as Health Minister for his third government. She took office on 8 September 2020, and resigned as city councillor three days later. As Health Minister, she is on charge of tackling the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in the Basque Country (being the second minister to do so, as Nekane Murga held the office during the pandemic's first wave) and managing the vaccination programme of the region.

Personal life

She currently lives in Bilbao. She is married and she has two sons and a daughter. She is a supporter of

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

. She used to practice

Basque dance Basque dance is the folk dance by Basque people of Basque Country, History From one part of the Basque country to another the music, steps and costumes change, but the collective reveals the Basques' deep love of dance. There are approx ...

as a member of Edurre Dantza Taldea.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagardui, Gotzone Living people 1966 births Politicians from Bilbao Basque women in politics Basque Nationalist Party politicians Health ministers of the Basque Country (autonomous community) Members of the 11th Basque Parliament People from Basauri University of Alcalá alumni University of the Basque Country alumni Municipal councillors in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Women members of the Basque Parliament