María Teresa Fernández de la Vega

Spain's first female Deputy Prime Minister who transformed gender equality laws

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (born 1949) redefined Spanish politics as the first woman Deputy PM (2004-2010), architecting Europe's most progressive gender laws. Her 2007 Equality Act mandated gender parity in corporate boards and political candidacies, increasing female parliamentarians from 36% to 48% within a decade.

The Valencia-born jurist survived Franco's regime to become Justice Minister's technical advisor at 26. After the 2004 Madrid bombings, her "Dialogues with Islam" initiative prevented ethnic violence, creating Europe's first state-funded mosque construction program through public-private partnerships.

Retiring from politics, de la Vega founded the Women for Africa Foundation in 2012, combating maternal mortality through Stop Fistula campaigns across 15 countries. Her 2021 UN speech demanding "algorithmic equality" in AI systems sparked global tech ethics reforms.