Rosária Maria Corte-Real (also Rosalia Maria Corte-Real) was the Minister of Education and Culture in

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

from 2006 to 2007. She was also responsible for youth and sports. She is a member of FRETILIN.

Education and career

Corte-Real grew up in

Ainaro Ainaro is a town in East Timor, the capital of the Ainaro suco, the Ainaro administrative post and the Ainaro Municipality, and is located in the southwest part of the country. The town of Ainaro is located 78 km south of Dili, the nat ...

, where her father was chief of the village ( Portuguese: ''Chefe de Suco'') during the

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

period. In 1965, Corte-Real completed primary school in

Same Same may refer to: *Sameness or identity Places * Same (Homer), an island mentioned by Homer in the ''Odyssey'' * Same (polis), an ancient city * Same, East Timor, the capital of the Manufahi district * Samé, Mali * Same, Tanzania * Same Distri ...

(

Manufahi Manufahi (, ) is one of the municipalities of East Timor. It has a population of 53,691 (2015 census) and an area of 1,323 km2. The capital of the municipality is Same. Etymology The present name of the municipality, ''Manufahi'', is ...

). Between 1966 and 1970 she then attended secondary and technical training school the ''Escola de Professores do Posto Escolar'' (Post School Teachers' School) in Canto Rezende,

Dili Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...

. Corte-Real was then principal of primary schools in Bobonaro (1970 to 1971),

Bazartete Bazartete (also known as Bazar Tete) is a village located in East Timor, comprising a subdistrict of Liquiçá District, located on a mountain top deep in the rain forest, just to the southeast of Liquiçá township. The area and its surroundin ...

(1971 to 1972),

Hato-Udo Hato-Udo (''Hatu Udo, Hotudo''), officially Hato-Udo Administrative Post (, ), is an administrative post (and was formerly a subdistrict) in Ainaro municipality, East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the ...

(1973 to 1974), and Bidau, a suburb of Dili (1975), the year of the

Indonesian invasion of East Timor The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus ( id, Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-c ...

. From 1980 to 1981, Corte-Real participated in a teachers' training course in Dili, followed by further training to obtain a teaching license at the IKIP Sanata Dharma in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

from 1985 to 1989. In 1990, she became head of the Teachers' Section of the Department of Education and Culture, Dili. From 1997 to 1999, she earned a master's degree in public administration at

Gajah Mada University Gadjah Mada University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦓꦗꦃꦩꦢ; id, Universitas Gadjah Mada, abbreviated as UGM) is a public research university located in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Officially founded on ...

in Yogyakarta. Under the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), ( pt, Administração Transitória das Nações Unidas em Timor Leste), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades long East Timorese cri ...

following the

1999 East Timorese independence referendum An independence referendum was held in East Timor on 30 August 1999. The referendum's origins lay with the request made by the President of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie, to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 27 January 1999, for th ...

, Corte-Real was elected an MP for Ainaro District for the FRETILIN party in the transitional constituent assembly, on 30 August 2001. She was a member of the Thematic Committee I and the Systematisation and Harmonisation Committee, which contributed to the development of East Timor's Bill of Rights. When East Timor became independent in 2002, the assembly became the

National Parliament of East Timor The National Parliament ( tet, Parlamentu Nasionál, pt, Parlamento Nacional) is the unicameral national legislature in East Timor. It was created in 2001 as the Constituent Assembly while the country was still administered by the United N ...

, and Corte-Real was elected secretary of the parliament.
In the government sworn in in July 2005, Corte-Real was appointed Vice Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, in order to provide support to the Minister of Education at a time of conflict between church and state. In the next government formed in 2006, Corte-Real became the Minister of Education and Culture, replacing Armindo Maia. She retained that office until the election in June 2007. Her successor as minister was João Câncio Freitas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corte-Real, Rosaria Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ainaro District Government ministers of East Timor 21st-century women politicians Fretilin politicians Members of the National Parliament (East Timor) Women government ministers of East Timor Culture ministers Education ministers East Timorese schoolteachers East Timorese civil servants Gadjah Mada University alumni