Carme Chacón

Carme Maria Chacón Piqueras (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkaɾmə tʃəˈkom piˈkeɾəs]; March 13, 1971 – April 9, 2017) was a Spanish lawyer, lecturer and politician who was minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 in the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) from 1994, she was elected member of the Parliament of Catalonia and vice president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, the lower house in the Spanish Parliament. In 2007, she entered the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero as minister of Housing. A year later, she became the first woman to take charge of the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

Early life and education

Chacón was born in Esplugues de Llobregat in Catalonia, in the region of Baix Llobregat. She held a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Barcelona, and conducted her postgraduate studies at Osgoode Hall Law School, Kingston University and Laval University. Besides this, she worked as a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Girona between 1994 and 2004.

Political career

Chacón was a member of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since 1994. She was first elected as a PSOE member of parliament for Barcelona in the 2000 election. In the same year, she became vice-president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies (Lower House) in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's legislature and she was later named minister of Housing after María Antonia Trujillo, before becoming minister of Defence in April 2008.