Francisca Van Dunem

Francisca Van Dunem (2016)

Francisca Eugénia da Silva Dias Van Dunem (born November 5, 1955 in Luanda , Angola ) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician. From 2001 to 2007 she was director of the Ministério Público . Since 2007 she has been attorney general for the Lisbon district and from November 25, 2015 Minister of Justice in the Costa I cabinet and the first black woman in this post in Portugal .

Live and act

Van Dunem comes from an old aristocratic Angolan family whose roots go back to the Flemish Baltasar Van Dunem , who was active as a slave trader from Benguela in the 16th century . Her brother was the journalist and media manager João Van-Dúnem, who died in 2013 .

At 18, she came to Portugal and studied at the University of Law School Lisbon Law . After the Carnation Revolution in 1974 she returned to Angola and joined the ranks of the MPLA as a recruit, and also works for the radio. In 1978 she fled Luanda because her brother Joseph and sister-in-law Sita Valles were murdered in 1977 during a political cleansing within the MPLA .

She practiced as a lawyer in Portugal for a total of three decades when she was appointed Attorney General for the Lisbon District in 2007, the most important of Portugal's four legal districts. She held this office until she was appointed Minister of Justice in 2015. She became known throughout Europe through two important investigative processes: the investigation into the corruption scandal surrounding the former Prime Minister of Portugal José Sócrates and the scandal surrounding the Banco Espírito Santo .

Her previous focus as a lawyer has included the fight against corruption , against domestic violence and against violence against the elderly and against racism . She is married to Eduardo Paz Ferreira , Professor of Financial Law, who teaches at the University of Lisbon . You have two children.

Web links

Commons : Francisca Van Dunem  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official government site
• Francisca Van Dunem. Quem é a primeira mulher negra a liderar a Justiça , observador.pt, from November 24, 2015 (Portuguese)
• Angola elogia quebra de “tabu” com escolha de van Dunem para o Governo PS , expresso.pt, from November 24, 2015 (Portuguese)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Francisca Van Dunem, a primeira mulher negra a chegar a ministra , publico.pt, from November 24, 2015 (Portuguese)
2. ^ "Doctor" Francisca to clean up in Portugal , welt.de, accessed on November 27, 2015
3. ↑ An African Slaving Port and the Atlantic World: Benguela and Its Hinterland , by Mariana Candido, accessed on November 27, 2015 (English)
4. ↑ Francisca Van Dunem: a procuradora eficiente , sol.pt, accessed on November 27, 2015 (Portuguese)