Rebecca Ana Ruiz (born 4 February 1982) is a Swiss politician of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SP). Since 2019, she has been a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

in the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

where she heads the cantonal department of health and social action. She also represented Vaud in the National Council from June 2014 to May 2019.

Biography

Ruiz comes from a politically active family, her parents who immigrated from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Antonio Fumagalli
''Für diese Nationen schlagen die Herzen der Parlaments-Doppelbürger auch noch.''
In: az Nordwestschweiz vom 7. Juni 2014. were members of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

, and a grandmother who spent five years in a

Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spani ...

prison. She is a dual Spanish-Swiss citizen, studied social sciences and obtained the Master of Laws in criminal law.

Political career

Ruiz is an incumbent State Councilor for the canton of Vaud. She was elected on 19 March 2019Staatsrat Waadt: So viele Frauen hatte noch keine Regierung
NZZ online, 19. März 2019. and took office on 7 May. She had previously been a member of the National Council since 2 June 2014. From July 2006 to June 2012, she was a member of the municipal council (conseil communal) of

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

. She then served on the

Grand Council of Vaud The Grand Council of Vaud (french: Grand Conseil de Vaud) is the legislature of the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. Vaud has a unicameral legislature. The Great Council has 150 seats, with members elected every five years. The last electio ...

from July 2012 to May 2014. From March 2008 to April 2013, she was President of the SP in Lausanne and from June 2012 to May 2014 Vice President of the SP parliamentary group in the Grand Council.

Personal life

Ruiz is married to Lausanne councilor Benoît Gaillard and has two children.

Notes and references

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruis, Rebecca 1982 births Living people Politicians from Lausanne 20th-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians Women members of the National Council (Switzerland) Social Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss people of Spanish descent