María Teresa Rejas Rodríguez (born 29 July 1946) is a Spanish teacher and politician who served in the Assembly of Extremadura from 1991 until 2007. A member of the Communist Party of Spain and the United Left, Rejas was the first female president of the assembly, holding the position as part of a coalition agreement from 1995 to 1997.

María Teresa Rejas
President of the Extremaduran Assembly
In office
20 June 1995 – 25 September 1997
PresidentJuan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra
Preceded byAntonio Vázquez López [es]
Succeeded byManuel Veiga López [es]
Member of the Assembly of Extremadura
In office
1991–2007
ConstituencyBadajoz (1991–2003)
Cáceres (2003–2007)
Personal details
Born (1946-07-29) 29 July 1946 (age 78)
Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
Political partyCommunist Party of Spain
United Left
Alma materUniversity of Extremadura

Biography

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María Teresa Rejas Rodríguez was born on 29 July 1946 in Cáceres, Extremadura. She graduated from the University of Extremadura with a degree in philology. Rejas worked as a teacher specializing in Spanish and French, and was also a therapeutic pedagogue. She is affiliated with the Workers' Commissions trade union.[1]

Rejas was elected to the Assembly of Extremadura following the 1991 Extremaduran regional election. A member of the United Left, she represented the Badajoz constituency for most of her tenure, switching to the Cáceres constituency during her final term in office. Throughout her tenure, Rejas served on several committees, including the committees on finance; culture, youth, and women; and education.[1] Following the 1995 Extremaduran regional election, the incumbent Spanish Socialist Workers' Party narrowly lost their majority in the assembly; as part of a coalition agreement between the PSOE and the United Left, Rejas was selected to serve as president of the assembly, becoming the first woman to preside over the assembly.[2][3] She resigned from the presidency on 25 September 1997 following the collapse of the coalition.[4][5] Rejas remained in the assembly until the end of her term in 2007.[1]

In addition to her parliamentary tenure, Rejas held various party positions, including positions on the United Left's national presidency and regional political council. She also served as the parliamentary spokesman for the United Left Extremadura from 2003 until 2007.[1] Rejas joined the Communist Party of Spain, a faction within the United Left, in 1996.[6]

In 2011, the Cáceres City Council [es] awarded Rejas with the Juanita Elguezábal [es] prize, which is given to women who pioneer in fields in which they "have not been culturally represented".[2][7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Rejas Rodríguez, María Teresa". Assembly of Extremadura (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  2. ^ a b Corbacho, Víctor Rodríguez (2015-06-24). "Teresa Rejas, primera mujer que presidió la Asamblea" [Teresa Rejas, the first woman to preside over the Assembly]. elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  3. ^ Gata, Carlos (2023-02-25). "El Estatuto y la Asamblea, de la mano desde hace 40 años" [The Statute and the Assembly, hand in hand for 40 years]. Canal Extremadura Televisión (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  4. ^ "Extremadura: 35 años de Estatuto de Autonomía a la conquista del futuro" [Extremadura: 35 years of Autonomy Statute to the conquest of the future]. Región Digital (in Spanish). 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  5. ^ Simon, Jeremias Clemente (1997-09-25). "La crisis de IU provoca la dimisión de la presidenta de la Asamblea extremeña" [The IU crisis causes the resignation of the president of the Assembly of Extremadura]. El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  6. ^ Cañada, Manuel (May 25, 2019). "Teresa Rejas: "Ibarra era el dios absoluto en Extremadura"" [Teresa Rejas: "Ibarra era el dios absoluto en Extremadura"]. El Salto (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-03-10.
  7. ^ "Teresa Rejas, galardonada con el premio Juanita Elguezábal" [Teresa Rejas, awarded with the Juanita Elguezábal prize]. Hoy (in European Spanish). 2011-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-10.