Esther Figueiredo Ferraz (February 6, 1916 – September 23, 2008) was the first female Minister to serve in the government of Brazil.[1] Ferraz served as the Brazilian Minister of Education from 1982 until 1985.[1]
Esther Ferraz was born in São Paulo on February 6, 1929. She was a member of the Academia Paulista de Letras.[1] Ferraz earned a law degree and became a lawyer. She went on to become the first woman to chair the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil), or OAB, beginning in 1949.[1] Ferraz later became the first woman to teach and lecture at the University of São Paulo (USP).[1]
She served on the São Paulo state Board of Education from 1963 to 1964.[1] Ferraz held the post of Director of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Diretora do Ensino Superior do Ministério da Educação e Cultura) from 1966 until 1967 under the government of Castelo Branco.[1] She later served on the Federal Council of Education (Conselho Federal de Educação) between 1969 and 1982.[1]
Esther Ferraz became the first female Minister of Education and Culture from 1982 until 1985 under the government of President João Figueiredo.[1] In doing so, she became the first woman to head a Brazilian government ministry.[1]
She authored several books, including Mulheres Freqüentemente and Prostituição e Criminalidade Feminina, which dealt with women and prostitution.[1]
Esther Ferraz died of a stroke at the Hospital do Coração in São Paulo on September 23, 2008, at the age of 92.[1]