María Isabel Pansa (born 1961) is an Argentine military officer. She is the first woman to attain the rank of general de brigada (brigade general)[note 1] in the Argentine Army.

María Isabel Pansa
2015
Born1961 (age 62–63)
Argentina
Alma materUniversity of Belgrano
Occupation(s)Information technology specialist, psychologist
Military career
AllegianceArgentina
Service / branchArgentine Army
RankBrigade general
UnitProfessional Corps
CommandsSub-Department VII – Research and Technological Development of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [es]

Biography

edit

María Isabel Pansa joined the Argentine Army in 1982, while the country was in the midst of the Falklands War.[10] She holds a licentiate in information technology from the University of Belgrano.[8]

In 2007 she was appointed by President Néstor Kirchner to serve as aide-de-camp to incoming President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as of 10 December of that year, when she had the rank of lieutenant colonel. Along with the corvette captain Claudia Fenocchio and the vice-commodore Silvana Carrascosa, she is one of the first three women in Argentine history to occupy that role.[11]

On 30 December 2008 she was promoted to the rank of colonel by Presidential Decree 2297/2008. In 2012 she received a licentiate in psychology from the Merchant Marine University.[12]

On 30 July 2015, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner proposed her promotion to the rank of brigade general. The Senate unanimously approved the proposal on 7 October 2015.[8][13] On 14 October 2015, Pansa was formally promoted to the rank of brigade general by Decree 2161/2015, retroactively effective as of 31 December 2014.[5]

Replacement

edit

On 5 February 2016, María Isabel Pansa was replaced as presidential military aide-de-camp by decree, effective 9 December 2015. The position passed to Lieutenant Colonel Santiago Ignacio Ibáñez.[3]

In February 2016, Pansa was appointed as head of Sub-Department VII of Research and Technological Development of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [es].[14]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ In Argentina there is no unanimity in the use of the masculine or feminine gender when it comes to designating a woman who holds the ranks of colonel and general, or the functions of an aide-de-camp. In some cases the expressions la generala, la coronela, and la edecana are used, while la general, la colonel, or la edecán are used in others. The former include the cases of Colonel Juana Azurduy, posthumously promoted to generala in 2009,[1] and the Virgin of Mercy, designated as generala by Manuel Belgrano in 1812.[2] The case of María Isabel Pansa is among the latter, promoted to the rank of general de brigada (brigade general) of the data computation system, due to the fact that she is a specialist in information technology and belongs to the Army's Professional Corps.[3][4][5] For its part, the press sometimes uses the form la generala,[6][7] and sometimes la general.[8][9]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Promocion Post Mortem" (in Spanish). Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Historia de la Virgen Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes" (in Spanish). Argentine Army. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Decreto 306/2016". Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina (in Spanish). 5 February 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Este miércoles tratarán el ascenso de la primera general del Ejército" [This Wednesday the Promotion of the First Woman General of the Army Will Be Processed]. parlamentario.com (in Spanish). 27 September 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Promocion" (in Spanish). Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Nombran generala del Ejército a una mujer en actividad por primera vez" [An Active Woman is Appointed Army General for First Time]. Perfil (in Spanish). 1 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. ^ "La primera generala" [The First Woman General]. Página/12 (in Spanish). 7 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c "El Senado aprobó la designación de la primera mujer con rango de general en el Ejército" [The Senate Approves the Appointment of the First Woman with the Rank of General in the Army]. La Nación (in Spanish). 7 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. ^ "María Isabel Pansa será la primera General de Argentina" [María Isabel Pansa to be Argentine Army's First Woman General]. Los Andes (in Spanish). 30 September 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  10. ^ "María Isabel Pansa será la primera General del Ejército de Argentina" [María Isabel Pansa to be Argentine Army's First Woman General]. Nuevo Tiempo (in Spanish). 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  11. ^ "Kirchner 'bendijo' a las tres primeras edecanes" [Kirchner 'Blesses' the First Three Women Aides-de-camp]. La Nación (in Spanish). 7 December 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  12. ^ "María Isabel Pansa: la mujer que puede ser la primera general del Ejército" [María Isabel Pansa: The Woman Who Could Be the First Female Army General]. El Patagónico (in Spanish). 1 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Cristina Kirchner da ejemplo por la igualdad de género y nombra la primera general del Ejército argentino" [Cristina Kirchner Sets an Example for Gender Equality and Appoints the Argentine Army's First Woman General]. LaRed21 (in Spanish). 15 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Autoridades del Ejército Argentino" [Authorities of the Argentine Army] (in Spanish). Argentine Army. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2019.