Lígia Fonseca

Fonseca was born Lígia Arcângela Lubrino Dias in Beira, Portuguese Mozambique, on 24 August 1963, to Canta Dias and Máximo Dias.[3][4] Her father, Máximo Dias, was a Mozambican lawyer, politician and leader of the MONAMO political party.[3][4] In 1976, her family moved to Lisbon, Portugal, due to political instability in Mozambique.[3]

Dias remained in Lisbon, despite hopes of returning to Beira.[3] She enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon, where she earned her law degree.[3][4] She met her future husband, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, who is Cape Verdean, in 1987 while attending the university.[3] The couple married on March 26, 1989, at a ceremony in Portugal.[3] They have three daughters.[4]

They then moved to Macau, where her husband had been hired as a law professor at the University of Macau.[3] The couple moved to Cape Verde in 1991, marking the first time she had lived in an African country since leaving Mozambique in 1976.[3]

On April 30, 2001, Fonseca became the first woman to be elected President of the Cape Verdian Lawyers' Association (Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde).[1][2][5] A dissenting group of lawyers argued that she had not been a member of OAC for at least 10 years, but her election was upheld.[2] Fonseca's inauguration as the first female head of the OAC took place on 19 May 2001.[5] She served as President from 2001 until 2004, when she was succeeded by Dr. Carlos Alberto Veiga.[5]

Jorge Carlos Fonseca was elected President in the second round of the 2011 Cape Verdean presidential election, making Lígia Fonseca the fourth First Lady of Cape Verde.[4] Lígia Fonseca sought to focus on social issues during her tenure.[3][4] She continued to practice law as an active lawyer after becoming first lady.[3]