Maria Izolda Cela de Arruda Coelho (born Sobral, Ceará, 9 May 1960) is a Brazilian professor, psychologist, politician and the first female governor in the history of the Brazilian state of Ceará. A member of the Brazilian Socialist Party,[3] she was the Vice Governor (from 2015 to 2022) and Governor of Ceará (from April to December 2022), being succeeded by Elmano de Freitas. She took office after the resignation of Camilo Santana.[4][5][6][7] After she left the government of Ceará, she took office as the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education from January 2023 to May 2024.[8]

Izolda Cela
Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Brazil
In office
19 January 2023[1] – 30 May 2024
MinisterCamilo Santana
Preceded byJosé de Castro Barreto Junior[2]
Governor of Ceará
In office
2 April 2022 – 31 December 2022
Vice GovernorVacant
Preceded byCamilo Santana
Succeeded byElmano de Freitas
Vice Governor of Ceará
In office
1 January 2015 – 2 April 2022
GovernorCamilo Santana
Preceded byDomingos Gomes de Aguiar Filho
Succeeded byJade Romero
First Lady of Sobral
In role
1 January 2011 – 31 December 2016
MayorVeveu Arruda
Preceded byMaria Esther Frota Cristino
Succeeded byViviam Paula Rodrigues Trajano
Secretary of Education of Ceará
In office
2 January 2007 – 4 April 2014
GovernorCid Gomes
Preceded byLuís Eduardo de Menezes Lima
Succeeded byMaurício Holanda Maia
Second Lady of Sobral
In role
1 January 2005 – 1 January 2011
Vice MayorVeveu Arruda
Secretary of Education of Sobral
In office
2005–2006
MayorLeônidas Cristino
Personal details
Born
Maria Izolda Cela de Arruda Coelho

(1960-05-09) 9 May 1960 (age 64)
Sobral, Ceará, Brazil
Political partyPSB (2024–present)
Other political
affiliations
Domestic partnerVeveu Arruda
Alma materFederal University of Ceará
Professionprofessor and psychologist
Signature

Biography

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Born in the municipality of Sobral, Ceará, Izolda Cela is the daughter of Maria Helena Cela (1928-2001), an elementary school teacher born in Camocim, Ceará, and Afonso Walter Magalhães Pinto (1916-1969), a cardiologist from Santa Quitéria.[6]

Graduated in psychology at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), she became academically specialized in Early Childhood Education at the State University of Ceará and also in Public Management at the Vale do Acaraú State University, where she became a pedagogy teacher years later. She became a Master in Management and Evaluation of Public Education from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais. Before entering public life, Izolda worked as a school psychologist at Colégio Sobralense (1986 and 1988), was part of the pedagogical board of the Arco-Iris School (1989), and gained clinical experience in child care when working at the Integrated Development Clinic (1991-1995), all in the municipality of Sobral.[6]

In addition, Izolda Cela is the great-niece of the painter Raimundo Cela, and she's married for over 30 years to the lawyer and former mayor of Sobral, José Clodoveu de Arruda Coelho Neto (PT), with whom she had four children: Hilda, Luisa, Clara and Pedro.[6]

Political life

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In 2001, Izolda Cela began her political career by assuming the position of Undersecretary for Education Development in the municipal administration of Sobral, Ceará, a position she remained in until 2004. Between 2005 and 2006, she served as the Municipal Secretary of Education and, between 2007 and 2014, as Secretary of Education of the State of Ceará.[6]

In 2014 Ceará state election, she ran for the first time as the running mate of Camilo Santana (PT) for the government of Ceará. She was affiliated to the Republican Party of the Social Order (PROS). Reaching the sum of 2,039,233 votes in the 1st round, 47.81% of the valid votes, and 2,417,668 votes in the 2nd round, 53.35% of the valid votes, the ticket won the electoral dispute and Izolda was elected the first female Vice Governor of the state of Ceará. On August 14, 2015, Izolda was considered the first woman to assume the government of Ceará, due to Governor Camilo's official trip for a week.[9]

In the 2018 Ceará state election, Izolda ran again for the position of Vice Governor of the State of Ceará on the ticket of incumbent governor Camilo Santana. Now affiliated to the Democratic Labour Party (PDT), the ticket garnered 3,457,556 votes (equivalent to 79.96% of valid votes), winning the dispute in the 1st round of the elections.[10][11]

On April 2, 2022, Santana resigned as governor to run for the Federal Senate, which made Izolda Cela the new governor and the first woman in history to command the state of Ceará[12] from April to December 2022. She was appointed by president Lula as Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Education of Brazil on 19 January 2023[1] and she stayed in office until 30 May 2024, when she announced her resignation in order to run in the 2024 Brazilian municipal elections as a potential candidate for mayor, either in Fortaleza or in her hometown, Sobral.[8]

Electoral results

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Year Election Running as Coalition Party Ticket Votos % Results
2014 Ceará gubernatorial election Vice Governor Keep Ceará changing

(PROS, PT, PRB, PP, PDT, PTB, PSL, PRTB, PHS, PMN, PTC, PV, PEN, PPL, PSD, PCdoB, PTdoB, SD)

PROS Camilo Santana

(PT)

2.039.233

(1º - first round)

2.417.668

(1º - second round)

47,81
(1º - first round)

53,35
(1º - second round)

Elected
2018 Ceará gubernatorial election For a Stronger Ceará

(PT, PDT, PP, PSB, PR, PTB, DEM, PCdoB, PPS, PRP, PV, PMN, PPL, PATRI, PRTB, PMB)

PDT 3.457.556
(1º - first round)
79,96%
(1º - first round)
Elected

References

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  1. ^ a b "Página 1 da Seção 2 - Edição Extra A do Diário Oficial da União (DOU) de 19 de Janeiro de 2023". Diário Oficial da União - JusBrasil. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  2. ^ "Página 2 da Seção 2 - Edição Extra A do Diário Oficial da União (DOU) de 1 de Janeiro de 2023". Diário Oficial da União - JusBrasil. 2023-01-01. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  3. ^ "Após racha no PDT, Cid Gomes e Izolda Cela se filiam ao PSB | Metrópoles". www.metropoles.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-02-04. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  4. ^ Povo, O. (2022-04-01). "Camilo oficializa renúncia e se dirige a Izolda: "Desejo de sucesso na honrosa missão"". O POVO (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  5. ^ "Após 20 anos, Ceará volta a ter renúncia de um governador; veja como é a transmissão do cargo - Inácio Aguiar". Diário do Nordeste. April 2, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Biografia: Maria Izolda Cela de Arruda Coelho | Netcina". 2019-12-10. Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  7. ^ "Influências de Pais e Avós". Jornal O Povo. 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Secretária-executiva do MEC, Izolda Cela comunica saída da pasta". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  9. ^ "Izolda Cela é a primeira mulher na história a assumir o Governo do Ceará". 2016-01-29. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  10. ^ "Governador - Governo do Estado do Ceará". 2019-12-11. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  11. ^ "Camilo Santana, do PT, é reeleito governador do Ceará". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  12. ^ "Após 20 anos, Ceará volta a ter renúncia de um governador; veja como é a transmissão do cargo - Inácio Aguiar". Diário do Nordeste (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-05-12.