Tortured mercilessly from electric shocks to every conceivable way during her 3-year imprisonment, she refused to break. Â Â
From fugitive guerrilla to Brazil’s Iron lady, she is the first woman to lead the world’s 8th largest economy. Known for her no-nonsense management and brusque political style, she has a reputation for publicly dressing down ministers.
In 2011, she became the first woman to open a session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Childhood
Dilma Vana Rousseff was born on December 14, 1947 to a Brazilian mother and Bulgarian businessman father. Rousseff grew up comfortably middle-class in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.
Though she had aspirations to be a ballerina, these were quickly abandoned and she developed her political spine as she joined the left-wing movement against Brazil’s military dictatorship which had seized power in 1964. Â
Career
She became active in local politics, and was appointed finance secretary for Porto Alegre in 1986. She left that position two years later and then returned to government work in 1993 as secretary of mines and energy for Rio Grande do Sul. She was credited with increasing energy efficiency and power production within the state.
She became affiliated with the Worker’s party in 1999 and served on the staff of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s successful presidential campaign in 2002.
Her standing in the party quickly rose as from minister of mines she was promoted the position of president’s chief of staff. Lula faced a constitutional limit of two terms, so he began grooming Rousseff to be his successor. She stepped down from her position in 2010 to prepare for her presidential campaign.Â
She enjoyed a convincing victory and was sworn in into office on January 1, 2011.
International recognition
In October 2011, during her state visit to Bulgaria, Rousseff was awarded Bulgaria’s highest state honour, Cordon of the Order of Stara Planina.Â
In April 2014, she was honored with Knight of the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic— a Spanish civil order granted in recognition of services that benefit the country.