Maria Lúcia Ribeiro Alckmin

Lu and her husband Geraldo Alckmin at the presidential inauguration in 2023.

Maria Lúcia Guimarães Ribeiro Alckmin was born in São Paulo, but left her hometown at the age of four to live in Pindamonhangaba, 156 km from the capital of São Paulo. In the municipality, she attended the Normal School, which prepared teachers for the old primary course, and met her husband while he was studying at the Faculty of Medicine in Taubaté.

Lu Alckmin has been married to Geraldo Alckmin since March 16, 1979, when he was still in office as mayor of Pindamonhangaba. They have three children: Sophia, Geraldo and Thomaz (deceased in 2015).

In the 1970s, when she was first lady of Pindamonhangaba, Lu Alckmin began to dedicate herself to social work. She initiated fundraising campaigns and promoted actions in needy communities in the region.

In 1994, when her husband was elected vice-governor on the ticket of Mário Covas, Lu Alckmin served as a volunteer for the Social Solidarity Fund of the State of São Paulo alongside Lila Covas (1932-2020), then first lady of São Paulo .

She became first lady of São Paulo in 2001 after her husband took over the state government following the death of then governor Mário Covas. With the re-election of Geraldo Alckmin in 2002. Lu continued as first lady of the state until March 31, 2006, when Alckmin resigned to run for president.

Lu Alckmin and her husband, Geraldo, at a political event for the 2010 state election.

With Geraldo taking office as governor in 2001, Lu assumed the presidency of the Social Fund and continued the projects of Dona Lila, whom he called “my teacher”. At the head of the institution, she prioritized professional qualification and income generation projects.

One of her most important projects was Padaria Artesanal, which implemented more than 9,000 units in the state and trained around 20,000 people.

In 2010, she returned to being first lady of the state due to her husband's election as governor. Geraldo was re-elected in 2014 for the same position. Reassuming the presidency of the fund, he maintained the focus on professional qualification. He created the Professional Qualification School, with the Fashion, Beauty and Civil Construction Schools, in addition to resuming the Artisan Bakery project.

Lu remained hostess at Palácio dos Bandeirantes until 2018, when her husband resigned again to run for president.

Geraldo and Lu parade with President Lula and Janja in the Presidential Rolls-Royce at the presidential inauguration in 2023.

In April 2022, she joined the PSB, days after her husband migrated to the party. Her affiliation took place during the Municipal Congress of the PSB in São Paulo, in which she was photographed alongside her husband, federal deputy Tabata Amaral and state deputy Caio França, son of Márcio França, former deputy governor of Geraldo Alckmin in the government of São Paulo.

After years of trying for the presidency of the Republic, and, in one of them being a direct opponent of the then president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, her husband Geraldo Alckmin was chosen as vice-president on the former president’s ticket for the 2022 elections. , for the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the campaign resulted in the victory of both in the second round with 50.9% of the valid votes.

With that, she assumed the role of second lady of Brazil on January 1, 2023, already indicating that she will work to form a set of actions with the first ladies of the Brazilian states to promote social work in the country.