Ifigenia Martha Martínez y Hernández (16 June 1925 – 5 October 2024) was a Mexican economist, diplomat, and politician who served as the president of the Chamber of Deputies in 2024.[2]
Martínez earned her undergraduate degree in economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and later obtained a master's in economics from Harvard University. In 1966, she became the first woman to lead UNAM's Faculty of Economics, serving in this capacity until 1970.[3][4]
Martínez, along with her future husband Alfredo Navarrete Romero, moved to Boston, United States, where they both pursued studies at Harvard University. Martínez completed a master's degree in economics in 1949, becoming the first Mexican woman to earn this degree from Harvard.[4]
She became a professor of Public Finance at UNAM and taught at the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) from 1957 to 1962. In 1960, she was appointed as a researcher at UNAM's Institute for Economic Research, and in 1967, she made history as the first woman to serve as director of UNAM's National School of Economics.[3][7][8]
Martínez made her initial entry into public office in 1953 when she was invited by Carlos Salinas Lozano to serve as the Head of the Office of Economic Studies. She resigned from this position three years later, following her outspoken criticism of the administration's economic policies, which caused discomfort within the Bank of Mexico.[10][5]
In 1958, Martínez returned to federal public administration as an advisor to the Secretary of Public Education, Jaime Torres Bodet.[10] She played a key role in analyzing the feasibility of the Eleven-Year Plan, Mexico's first attempt at long-term educational planning. Although the plan was not fully realized, it resulted in significant initiatives, including the provision of free textbooks and the establishment of a school breakfast program.[5][11]
During the Mexican Movement of 1968, when the military occupied Ciudad Universitaria, Martínez was a vocal critic of the government's actions, staunchly defending the university's autonomy, which ultimately led to her arrest.[8][9][12]
In 1976, Martínez secured her first popularly elected office as a federal deputy in the L Legislature, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). She chaired the Budget Committee and made history by leading a group of progressive lawmakers in opposing presidential initiatives—an unprecedented move in Mexican politics at the time.[5]
Martínez was appointed as the deputy ambassador to the United Nations in New York, serving under Porfirio Muñoz Ledo. In 1982, she joined the Advisory Commission on Foreign Policy at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs.[5]
Role in the Party of the Democratic Revolution (1986–2002)
In 1988, she made history as the first senator elected from the Federal District representing an opposition party. During the LIV Legislature, she was elected as Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Senate.[6]
In 1994, she was elected to the Chamber of Deputies by proportional representation, where she served as the economic coordinator of the PRD parliamentary group.[10]
In 2000, she sought the nomination from the PRD for the position of Head of Government of the Federal District. However, she ultimately withdrew her candidacy and endorsed Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who successfully won the election.[6][10]
Between the founding of the PRD and 2002, Martínez held various significant leadership roles within the party, particularly in its National Executive Committee, including Secretary of Finance and Secretary of Parliamentary Affairs.[10]
Later career (2006–2024)
Ifigenia Martínez in 2019
Martínez was a member of the political coordination of the Broad Progressive Front legislative bloc.[15] In 2008, during President Felipe Calderón's efforts to privatize Pemex, Martínez emerged as a prominent critic, forming part in López Obrador's National Movement in Defense of Oil.[5]
She was one of several PRD members who aligned with the Labor Party (PT) for the 2009 elections, following a schism within the PRD that saw López Obrador's allies sidelined by party leader Jesús Ortega.[16] Through proportional representation, she secured a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, returning to the chamber. Although the PRD leadership expelled her due to her affiliation with another party during an election, Martínez sought reaffiliation shortly after the election, arguing that both the PRD and PT shared common progressive goals.[17]
Martínez was a key advocate for the political reform of the Federal District and, in 2016, she was elected as a deputy to the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.[5][18] The drafted constitution was approved in early 2017.[19]
During the 2018 general election, Martínez advocated for a grand leftist alliance that would include the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), the Labor Party (PT), Citizens' Movement (MC), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).[20] However, this coalition did not materialize, as the PRD and MC ultimately formed an alliance with the National Action Party (PAN). In response, she endorsed López Obrador's third presidential candidacy and was placed on Morena's proportional representation list for the Senate as an external candidate.[21][22] Just days before the election, Martínez resigned from the PRD, citing the party's alliance with the PAN and its shift toward conservative values.[22]
Martínez held the presidency of the Board of Deans—a position she held due to her seniority—three times, in 2009, 2018 and 2024.[23][24][25] Notably, during the LXI Legislature in 2009, she became the first leftist woman to oversee the swearing-in of deputies.[25]
Martínez (center) during Sheinbaum's presidential inauguration, 1 October 2024.
Visibly frail, she presided over the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum as President of Mexico on 1 October 2024, during which she officially handed Sheinbaum the presidential sash.[2][8]
Death
Days after the presidential swearing-in ceremony, Martínez died on 5 October 2024, at the age of 99.[1]
^ abBruhn, Kathleen (1997). Taking on Goliath: the Emergence of a New Left Party and the Struggle for Democracy in Mexico. The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN0271015861.
^López Castellanos, Nayar (October 2001). Izquierda y neoliberalismo de México a Brasil (in Spanish). Mexico, D.F.: Plaza y Valdés, S. A. of C. V. pp. 105–124. ISBN968856-825-2.
.jpg){kind=spacer}
