Marta Suplicy

Marta Suplicy
Marta Suplicy and Mário Soares during a conference in Porto Alegre.
Senator of Brazil from São Paulo
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2011
Preceded by	Romeu Tuma
Mayor of São Paulo
In office January 1, 2001 – January 1, 2005
Preceded by	Celso Pitta
Succeeded by	José Serra
Personal details
Born	March 18, 1945 (1945-03-18) (age 66) São Paulo
Political party	Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) — PT
Occupation	Psychologist
Website	http://www.martasuplicy.com.br/

Marta Teresa Smith de Vasconcelos Suplicy (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmaʁtɐ supliˈsi]; born March 18, 1945) is a Brazilian politician and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004 as a member of the Brazilian Workers' Party (PT). She later served as the Brazilian Minister of Tourism between March 14, 2007 and June 4, 2008, when she resigned to run again for mayor of São Paulo.

She attended Michigan State University (1966–68), and Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (1969–75); she did post-graduate work at Stanford University (1973). Suplicy started her career as a TV anchorwoman, providing sex advice on a popular show named TV Mulher (Woman TV), broadcast by Rede Globo. While serving as Congresswoman she proposed a gay civil unions act. After running for governor of São Paulo and losing to Mário Covas of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) in 1998, she was elected mayor of the state capital, São Paulo, in 2000.

Her administration of the city is marked by the changes she made to the city's bus system, creating a ticket that is valid for a period of two hours, called bilhete único. In the public educational system she created large schools and cultural centers, called "CEU", which were built in the poorest districts of the city. Towards the end of her administration, she began the construction of several underpasses which alleviated traffic in certain points of the city. She also increased many existing municipal taxes as well as creating new ones. In 2004 she ran for a second term, but was defeated by former PSDB presidential candidate José Serra.

On March 14, 2007, Suplicy accepted the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's invitation to become the new Minister of Tourism.^[1] Later that same year, on June 13, 2007, when interviewed about the 2006–2007 Brazilian aviation crisis, Suplicy suggested that users of the Congonhas Airport in São Paulo who suffered long delays while heading for vacation should "relax and enjoy because they will forget the troubles afterwards" (Portuguese: "relaxa e goza porque você vai esquecer dos transtornos."^[2]). Her speech included a double entendre, as the word she used for "enjoy" can also refer to an orgasm.^[3]

On August 3, 2010, Suplicy was elected for the Federal Senate of Brazil, becoming the top voted female Senator ever, receiving over 8.2 million votes.^[4] She is also the first female ever elected Senator from São Paulo, the most populous state of Brazil.^[5] She promised to fight for the approval of PLC 122, a bill criminalizing homophobia.^[6]

Family

Suplicy has three sons, one of whom is the musician Supla. She was married to Eduardo Suplicy (PT), a Brazilian senator from the state of São Paulo, from 1965 to 2001. Later, she married Luis Favre, whom she also divorced after a relationship of nearly eight years. She currently dates Márcio Toledo, president of the Jockey Club of São Paulo.

Notes

	Brazil portal
	Biography portal

1. ^ Matais, Andreza (March 14, 2007), Marta aceita ocupar Ministério do Turismo, Folha de São Paulo, http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/brasil/ult96u90300.shtml 
2. ^ Pariz, Tiago.Marta sobre a crise aérea: 'relaxa e goza'. G1.com.br. June 13, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2007.
3. ^ Glüsing, Jens. "200 Feared Dead in Sao Paulo Crash." Spiegel Online. July 18, 2007. Retrieved on January 31, 2009.
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ [3]

Preceded by Celso Pitta

Mayor of São Paulo 2001 – 2004

Succeeded by José Serra

Persondata
Name	Suplicy, Marta
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 18, 1945
Place of birth	São Paulo
Date of death
Place of death