Dilma Rousseff : Ask Biography

Official portrait of Dilma Rousseff

Personal data

Date of birth

14 December 1947(age 69)

Place of birth

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Birth name

Dilma Vana Rousseff

Nationality

Brazil Brazilian

Political party

Workers' Party

Spouse

Cláudio Galeno Linhares (1967 � 1969)
Carlos Franklin Paixão de Araújo (1969 � 2000)

Children

Paula Rousseff Araújo

Residence

Palácio da Alvorada

Alma mater

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Profession

Economist

Religion

Roman Catholicism

36th President of Brazil

Assumed office

1 January 2011

President

Michel Temer

Vice President

Michel Temer

Preceded by

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

40th Chief of Staff of Brazil

In office

21 June 2005 - 31 March 2010

President

Luiz Inácio da Silva

Succeeded by

Erenice Guerra

Preceded by

José Dirceu

21st Minister of Mines and Energy

In office

1 January 2003 - 21 June 2005

President

Luiz Inácio da Silva

Succeeded by

Silas Rondeau

Preceded by

Francisco Luiz Sibut Gomide

Home | Office Holder | Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Vana Rousseff (-ptˈdʒiwmɐ χuˈsɛfbr; born 14 December 1947) is the 36th and current President of Brazil. She is the first woman to hold the office. Prior to that, in 2005, she was also the first woman to become Chief of Staff of Brazil, appointed by then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The daughter of a Bulgarian immigrant father, Rousseff was raised in an upper middle class household in Belo Horizonte. She became a socialist during her youth, and following the 1964 coup d'état joined various left-wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought against the military dictatorship. Rousseff was captured and jailed between 1970 and 1972 and reportedly tortured.

After her release, Rousseff rebuilt her life in Porto Alegre with Carlos Araújo, who would be her partner for 30 years. Both helped found the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) in Rio Grande do Sul, participating in several of the party's electoral campaigns. She became the Secretary of the Treasury of Porto Alegre in the Alceu Collares administration, and later the Secretary of Energy of Rio Grande do Sul under both Collares and Olívio Dutra administrations. In 2000, after an internal dispute in the Dutra cabinet, she left PDT and joined the Workers' Party (PT).

In 2002, Rousseff joined the committee responsible for the energy policy of presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who after winning the election invited her to become Minister of Energy. In 2005, a political crisis triggered by a corruption scandal led to the resignation of Chief of Staff José Dirceu. Rousseff took over the post, remaining in office until March 31, 2010, when she left in order to run for President. She was elected in a run-off on 31 October 2010. She is the first female elected President of Brazil, in addition to being the first economist elected for the office.