Luiza Erundina de Sousa (; November 30, 1934) is a Brazilian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, born in Uiraúna, a small city in the interior of the Brazilian state of

Paraíba Paraíba ( Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba ...

Political history

From 1980 to 1997 she was affiliated with the PT party (Workers’ Party). In 1997 she changed to the PSB party. Due to disagreements within PSB that decided to support the impeachment process against president

Dilma Rousseff Dilma Vana Rousseff (; born 14 December 1947) is a Brazilian economist and politician who served as the 36th president of Brazil, holding the position from 2011 until her impeachment and removal from office on 31 August 2016. She is the first w ...

, Erundina switched to party

PSOL The Socialism and Liberty Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade , PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Juliano Medeiros and the federal deputies I ...

in March 2016. Erundina served on the

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

city council from 1983–1987. From 1987–1988 she was a state deputy for the

state of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. She was São Paulo's mayor from 1989 to 1992, and is currently a federal deputy from São Paulo. She was re-elected in 2002 and again in 2006, in 2010, in 2014 and in 2018. In the 2020 São Paulo mayoral election, Erundina ran as the vice mayoral candidate of Guilherme Boulos, also of PSOL.

Education

Erundina was born to a very poor family. Notwithstanding the obstacles, she managed to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Social Service from

Federal University of Paraíba Federal University of Paraíba ( pt, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, UFPB) is a public university whose main campus is located in the city of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. Along with Federal University of Campina Grande, they're the main ...

. She also holds a Master's degree in Sociology from

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

References

External links

Information in Portuguese from the Brazilian congress
, - , - , - , - , - 1934 births Brazilian Socialist Party politicians Living people Mayors of São Paulo Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from São Paulo Members of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo Women mayors of places in Brazil Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians Socialism and Liberty Party politicians Catholic feminists Brazilian feminists {{Brazil-mayor-stub