Ana Maria Pessoa Pereira da Silva Pinto (born January 5, 1956) is an

East Timorese Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and t ...

politician who served in several roles, including as the country's prosecutor general. She is a member of

FRETILIN The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a separatist organization turned centre-left political party in Timor-Leste. It presently holds 19 of 65 seats in the National Parliament. Fretilin formed the ...

Career

Ana Pessoa was active in the Timor-Leste independence campaign while studying law at

Eduardo Mondlane University The Eduardo Mondlane University (; UEM) is the oldest and largest university in Mozambique. The UEM is a secular public university, unaffiliated with any religion, and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, or religion. The ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

in the 1980s. She went on to work as Director of National Investigations and Legislation of Mozambique from 1990 to 2000. During the

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET, ), was a United Nations mission in East Timor that aimed to solve the decades-long East Timorese crisis in the area occupied by Indonesian military. UNTAET provided an int ...

(UNTAET) from 1999 to 2002, Pessoa was the Cabinet Member for the Interior). She joined the Second Transitional Government as Minister of Justice until 2003, then served as minister of state administration until 2007. Following the parliamentary elections on 30 June 2007, she returned to the National Parliament as a Fretilin deputy. On 27 March 2009, Pessoa became the new attorney general, replacing Longuinhos Monteiro. She subsequently retired from politics and lives in

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

Personal life

More commonly known as Ana Pessoa, she was elected to the

National Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 2007 legislative elections. Her family originates from the western town of

Maliana Maliana is a city in East Timor, 149 kilometers southwest of Dili, the national capital. It has a population of 22,000. It is the capital of the Districts of East Timor, district of Bobonaro District, Bobonaro and Maliana Subdistrict, and is ...

. She is the former wife of

José Ramos-Horta José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL GColIH (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician. He has been the president of East Timor since 2022, having previously also held the position from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Mini ...

, the current president. They have a son, Loro Horta, born in 1977, who is a Timor-Leste diplomat. She has three other children from a second marriage. On 19 May 2012, Pessoa was awarded the Collar of the

Order of Timor-Leste The Order of Timor-Leste () is the highest Order (honour), honour currently awarded by Timor-Leste. Established in 2009, the order was created after the original honours granted by Timor-Leste. It is of a more general and broader nature than the ...

References

1956 births Living people Members of the National Parliament (Timor-Leste) People from Bobonaro Municipality Fretilin politicians 20th-century women politicians 21st-century women politicians Government ministers of Timor-Leste Women government ministers of Timor-Leste Female justice ministers {{EastTimor-politician-stub Ministers of justice of Timor-Leste