María José Pizarro Rodríguez (born 30 March 1978) is a Colombian artist, activist, and politician. She was a member of the country's Chamber of Representatives from 2018 to 2022, and has been a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Historic Pact The Historic Pact for Colombia (, PHxC) is a political and electoral coalition in Colombia composed of political parties and social movements with ideologies ranging from the centre-left, left-wing, and far-left. It is the current Government Coa ...

since July 2022.

Biography

María José Pizarro was born in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

on 30 March 1978, the daughter of Myriam Rodríguez and the former guerrilla and leader of the

19th of April Movement The 19th of April Movement (), or M-19, was a Colombian urban guerrilla movement active in the late 1970s and 1980s. After its demobilization in 1990 it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 tra ...

, Carlos Pizarro Leongómez; and niece of

Hernando Pizarro Hernando Pizarro y de Vargas (; c. 1504 – c. 1578) was a Spanish conquistador and one of the Pizarro brothers who ruled over Peru. He was the only one of the Pizarro brothers who was not killed in Peru, and eventually returned to Spain. Piza ...

who carried out the Tacueyó Massacrein Cauca. During her childhood, she had to live in exile in Ecuador, Nicaragua, and France. She returned to Colombia when her father was a candidate in the 1990 presidential election, and went back into exile after he was assassinated. In 2002, she settled in Spain, studied design in Barcelona, and returned definitively to her home country in 2010. A plastic artist who works in jewelry and audiovisual presentations, she held an exhibition at the

Colombian National Museum The National Museum of Colombia () is the National Museum of Colombia housing collections on its history of Colombia, history, art of colombia, art, culture of Colombia, culture. Located in the Santa Fe, Bogotá, Santa Fe locality of Bogotá, Colo ...

titled ''Ya vuelvo: Carlos Pizarro, una vida por la paz'' (I'm Back: Carlos Pizarro, A Life for Peace). It was presented in Bogotá, Cali, and Barcelona. She worked with the Secretariat of Culture, Recreation, and Sports of Bogotá from 2011 to 2013, and the National Center for Historical Memory from 2013 to 2017. She has also been an activist for peace and historical memory, in homage to the victims of the

armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

in Colombia. She has dedicated much of her work to reconstructing the memory of her father. She compiled his letters and photographs in the 2015 book ''De su puño y letra''.

Political career

Pizarro ran for a seat representing Bogotá in the Chamber of Representatives in the 2018 parliamentary election, for the . She obtained the fourth highest number of votes, with 78,000. She was sworn in on 20 July of the same year. She ran for

in the 2022 parliamentary election, for the

coalition in a party quota. She was elected, and took office on 20 July. On 7 August 2022, in her capacity as a senator, she placed the presidential sash on

Gustavo Petro Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician who is the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration, he became the Pink tide, first left-wing president in the History of Colombia, recen ...

at his inauguration.

Works

* ''De su puño y letra'' (2015), Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Colombia, * ''Pizarro documental'' (2015), with Simón Hernández, produced by Señal Colombia

References

External links

*
María José Pizarro Rodríguez
at the Chamber of Representatives {{DEFAULTSORT:Pizarro, Maria Jose 1978 births 21st-century Colombian politicians 21st-century Colombian women artists 21st-century Colombian women politicians Living people Members of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia Members of the Senate of Colombia Politicians from Bogotá Pizarro family