Maria de Fátima da Veiga (born June 22, 1957) is a

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

an politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Veiga was the

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

from 2002 to 2004. She was the first female foreign minister in

's history. Veiga was born on the island of São Vicente. She later attended some higher education institutes including the

University of Aix-en-Provence Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, Count of Provence, petitioned the Pisan Antipope Alexan ...

in the

south of France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, the German Foundation in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In 1980, she started to work for the Cape Verdean Ministry of External Affairs. Between 2001 and 2002, she was the Ambassador of Cape Verde to Cuba. When she was a foreign minister, she visited Paris from January 9 to 12, 2002. For a few years in 2007 she was the Ambassador of Cape Verde to the United States. She presented her credentials to President George Bush on August 16, 2007. Since February 20, 2014, she is the Capeverdean ambassador to France. She succeeded José Armando Filomeno Ferreira Duarte who was the longest serving

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Notes

1957 births Living people Ambassadors of Cape Verde to the United States Ambassadors of Cape Verde to France Ambassadors of Cape Verde to Cuba Ministers of foreign affairs of Cape Verde People from São Vicente, Cape Verde Female foreign ministers Cape Verdean women ambassadors Cape Verdean women diplomats University of Provence alumni 21st-century women politicians Women government ministers of Cape Verde {{CapeVerde-politician-stub