María Eugenia Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 Justicialist Party

Justicialist Party

The Justicialist Party , or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. The current Argentine president, Cristina Fernández de...

 politician, born in Rosario

Rosario

Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....

, Santa Fe Province

Santa Fe Province

The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...

. She was the vice-governor of Santa Fe, accompanying governor Jorge Obeid

Jorge Obeid

Jorge Alberto Obeid is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician, currently an Argentine Chamber of Deputies and former governor of Santa Fe Province until 2007....

, from 2003 until 2007. As such, she also presides the provincial Senate. She is the sister of politician Rafael Bielsa

Rafael Bielsa

Rafael Antonio Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine Justicialist Party politician from Rosario, province of Santa Fe. He is the brother of former Argentina national football team coach Marcelo Bielsa; both are well-known Newell's Old Boys supporters...

 and of football coach Marcelo Bielsa

Marcelo Bielsa

Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera is an Argentine association football coach and former defender, born in Rosario, Santa Fe...

.

Bielsa is an architect, and she taught at the Faculty of Architecture of the National University of Rosario

National University of Rosario

The National University of Rosario is a research, educational and public university located in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina.-Overview:...

. She is married to an architect and has a son who is studying the same career.

Prior to the 2005 legislative elections, President Néstor Kirchner

Néstor Kirchner

Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...

 asked Bielsa to run for a highly-contested seat at the national Chamber of Deputies

Argentine Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....

, but she refused, stating that she had a mandate to finish her term in the office for which she was elected. Governor Obeid again asked Bielsa to run for mayor of Rosario in the 2007 general elections at the end of their term. She did not explicitly refuse or accept that request at the time,

but eventually other mayoral candidates presented themselves instead.

Bielsa was elected to be a council member in Rosario's municipal election as head of the Bloque Encuentro por Rosario.