Joana Rodrigues Mortágua (born 24 June 1986) is a Portuguese politician. A member of the Left Bloc (''Bloco de Esquerda''), she has been a deputy in the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic since 2015, representing

Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...

Early life and education

Mortágua was born on 24 June 1986 in Alvito in the

Beja District The Beja District (; ) is located in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Beja. It is the largest district of the country by area, comprising around 11% of Portuguese territory. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district i ...

of Portugal. She is the daughter of Camilo Mortágua, an anti-fascist opponent of the '' Estado Novo'' regime in Portugal that was overthrown in 1974. Her twin sister,

Mariana Mortágua Mariana Rodrigues Mortágua (born 24 June 1986) is a Portuguese economist and politician who is the National Coordinator of the Left Bloc, serving since 28 May 2023. In 2013, she was elected to the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, replac ...

, is also a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic, representing Lisbon. Joana Mortágua has a degree in international relations with a specialization in Latin America, from the ''

Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas The ''Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas'' (ISCSP) (Institute of Social and Political Sciences) is part of the University of Lisbon (ULisboa). It was known in the early 20th century as the Colonial School, when it was run by the ...

'' (ISCSP) (Institute of Social and Political Sciences) of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

Political involvement

Mortágua's political involvement began at the age of 15 when she volunteered for the ''Associação Justiça e Paz'' (Association for Justice and Peace), based in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

, an organization that defends human and women's rights. In secondary school, she was the student representative in the school bodies. Later, she was active in various student movements, including the fight against the

Bologna Process file:Bologna-Prozess-Logo.svg, 96px, alt=Logo with stylized stars, Logo file:Bologna zone.svg, alt=Map of Europe, encompassing the entire Bologna zone, 256px, Bologna zone The Bologna Process is a series of ministerial meetings and agreements b ...

, a European initiative to ensure comparability in the standards and quality of higher-education qualifications. She worked for the Ernesto Roma Foundation, an organization devoted to combatting diabetes. Mortágua joined the Left Bloc at the age of 18, and was active in the campaign to decriminalize abortion. She was head of the list of Left Bloc candidates for the

Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...

constituency in the

2009 Portuguese legislative election The 2009 Portuguese legislative election was held on 27 September, to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. In these elections there were approximately 9.5 million Portuguese at home and abroad called to determine the 230 seats ...

but was not elected. In the 2013 municipal elections, she headed the Left Bloc list of candidates for

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population of the municipality in 20 ...

municipality, but was not elected councillor until 2017, being re-elected in 2021. In 2015 she was elected as a national deputy by the

constituency, being re-elected in 2019 and in January 2022. The elections in 2022 were called early by the prime minister,

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as President of the European Council since 2024. He previously served as the 118th prime minister of Portugal from 2015 to 2024 and th ...

, following the failure of the Left Bloc and the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

to support his budget. They proved disappointing for the Left Bloc, which went from having 19 deputies in the Assembly to having only five candidates elected nationally in 2022, including Mortágua and her sister, who was elected for the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

constituency. In the Assembly of the Republic, Mortágua has coordinated the parliamentary group of the Left Bloc on the Committee on Education, Science, Youth and Sport and has been a member of the Labour and Social Security Committee. She was a member of the negotiating group in 2015 that established the joint position of the Left Bloc and Costa's

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS), paving the way for the formation of a minority government of the PS. She has also been one of the organizers of the ''Movimento Escola Democrática'' (Democratic Schools Movement), which promotes cooperative management of the school curriculum that involves the students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortágua, Joana 1986 births 21st-century Portuguese women politicians Left Bloc politicians Living people Members of the 13th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 14th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 15th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Members of the 16th Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Alvito Portuguese abortion-rights activists Portuguese women activists University of Lisbon alumni Women members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)