Ifigenia Martínez y Hernández

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.

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.

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.

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.

Political career

Early career and offices Martínez co-founded the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in 1950.

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.

In 1958, Martínez returned to federal public administration as an advisor to the Secretary of Public Education, Jaime Torres Bodet.

From 1961 to 1970, she served as the Chief Advisor to the Secretary of Finance, Antonio Ortiz Mena.

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. Following the 1988 presidential election, Martínez became one of the key founding members of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. The drafted constitution was approved in early 2017.

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). 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. Just days before the election, Martínez resigned from the PRD, citing the party's alliance with the PAN and its shift toward conservative values. Notably, during the LXI Legislature in 2009, she became the first leftist woman to oversee the swearing-in of deputies. Her alternate, Guadalupe Morales Rubio, took up her seat on 14 October.

Awards and honours

National honour Belisario Domínguez Medal of Honor (7 October 2021)

Awards

Benito Juárez Medal (October 2009) Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Medal (7 March 2019)

Publications

Martínez, Ifigenia (1986). Deuda externa y soberanía nacional. Mexico City: UNAM. OCLC 18545491 — (1989). Algunos efectos de la crisis en la distribución del ingreso en México. Mexico City: UNAM. 1989. OCLC 1025832545 — (1995). Economía y democracia: una propuesta alternativa. Mexico City: Grijalbo. 1995. OCLC 1025832545 — (1999). Globalidad, crisis y reforma monetaria. Mexico City: UNAM. 1999. OCLC 1024528987 Martínez, Ifigenia (2001). El nuevo poder del Congreso en México. Mexico City: Porrúa. 2001. OCLC 932337353 Martínez, Ifigenia (2003). México: desarrollo y fortalecimiento del sector estratégico de energía eléctrica. Mexico City: Porrúa. 2003. OCLC 949139246