Celeste Cardona

Maria Celeste Ferreira Lopes Cardona is Portuguese lawyer and politician. She is a former Minister of Justice and a former deputy in the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal.

Early life Maria Celeste Ferreira Lopes Cardona was born on 30 June 1951 in Anadia in the Aveiro District of Portugal. She graduated in law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, following this with a master's degree in tax law and a doctorate in legal and economic sciences, presenting a thesis on independent regulatory authorities.

Career Cardona taught administrative and tax law as an assistant professor at the University of Lisbon law faculty. She also worked for the Portuguese Centre for Tax Studies at the Ministry of Finance and has represented Portugal at the OECD. She was appointed administrator of Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) a state-owned bank, in 2005. In this context she was criticised for her role in the CGD's loan of money to a leading Portuguese businessman, Joe Berardo. She became a member of the general and supervisory board of the EDP Group, Portugal's largest energy company, after its final phase of nationalisation in 2012. Cardona also continues to consult on legal issues relating to tax. She teaches at the Lusíada University and has published several articles on tax issues.

Honours and awards On 6 March 1998, Cardona was made a Grand Officer of the Portuguese Order of Prince Henry.