Marta Olinda Maffei
Marta Olinda Maffei (1940-present) is an Argentine figure whose career spans teaching, union leadership, and national politics. She began her career as an educator in Banfield, Buenos Aires, and became a prominent advocate for teachers' and workers' rights, co-founding several educational and union organizations. Her activism led her to serve as a National Deputy representing Buenos Aires.
Teaching trajectory
Marta Olinda Maffei began teaching in 1958 at the Escuela Normal de Banfield after graduating from there. She taught for 17 years in public schools and 25 years in secondary schools. She participated in the founding of CTERA (the Confederation of Education Workers of the Argentine Republic) and co-founded ATEN (the Association of Workers of Nequen). She also served as Secretary of Secondary Education and was a founder and Secretary of MUTEN (Nequen education workers mutual aid society). In 1985, she was elected General Secretary of the provincial teachers’ union, renewing this mandate multiple times. She also had leadership roles in international education-focused institutions, presiding over IEAL (the Education International for Latin America) from 1995 and serving as a member of the World Executive Council of Education International from 1998 to 2004. In 2000, she was a Joint Member for Collective Bargaining of the ILO on Lifelong learning.
Political trajectory
Marta Olinda Maffei began her political engagement as a school delegate for the teachers’ union in 1959. In the 1960s, she participated in the Intransigent Radical Civic Union, then later joined the Intransigent Party. Under the dictatorship, she served as Secretary of the provincial Intransigent Party, working on human rights defense and advocating for the return of democracy. She was elected as a National Deputy in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies for the Coalición Cívica ARI party, representing Buenos Aires from 2003 to 2007. As a Deputy, she served on committees for Educación, Población, Comercio y Recursos Naturales y Ambiente Humano and worked on a Glacier protection law.
Connections between both careers
Maffei's teaching background served as the foundation for her extensive advocacy work and political career. Her activism, whether in union leadership, human rights defense during the dictatorship, or her role as a National Deputy, consistently stemmed from her educational basis. She participated in and founded numerous educational workers' organizations, demonstrating a clear trajectory from her experience in the classroom to fighting for public education rights and broader human and workers' rights. The text explicitly states that her "advocacy stemmed from her educational basis" and that her "basis in education and educational-advocacy led to both immense leaps forward in public education rights as well as other human- and workers- rights advocacy."
Sources
Redacción Clarín. 1997. “Una maestra y sindicalista histórica.” Clarín, July 08, 1997. https://www.clarin.com/sociedad/maestra-sindicalista-historica_0_rkuNd4bZ0Ke.html. Instituto de Estudios y Formación de la CTA Autónoma. 2024. “Vida y obra de Marta Maffei, luchadora incansable contra el neoliberalismo en Argentina.” Idearios desde el sur, 2024. https://www.relatsargentina.com/documentos/CTAA/IEF.MartaMaffei.pdf. Paro Docente. 2017. “Marta Maffei: "El gran logro de la carpa blanca fue conseguir la paritaria nacional,"” Radio program. Paro Docente. https://www.radionacional.com.ar/marta-maffei-el-gran-logro-de-la-carpa-blanca-fue-conseguir-la-paritaria-nacional/. Instrumento Electoral Por la Unidad Popular. 2016. “Marta Maffei en Río Cuarto.” May 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20181207180341/http://corrienteup.org.ar/2016/05/marta-maffei-en-rio-cuarto-2/.