   anna simÃ³ i castellÃ³ (born july 26, 1968) is a catalan politician. a member of the republican left of catalonia (erc), she became the minister of social welfare and family affairs of the generalitat de catalunya in 2003 as part of the first ""tripartite" coalition government formed by the socialists' party of catalonia, erc and initiative for catalonia greens, a position she held until erc's ministers were removed from the government in may 2006. she is currently a member of the catalan parliament. ==education and professional background== anna simÃ³ earned an undergraduate degree in catalan philology from the university of barcelona in 1991 and went on to complete a post-degree program in language planning at the same university in 1992. from 1990 to 2003, she worked for the linguistic normalisation consortium (consorci per a la normalitzaciÃ³ lingÃ¼Ã­stica), including a stint as the head of the linguistic normalisation center in the ciutat vella district of barcelona. ==civic background== she is a member of several associations, including ca la dona (woman's house), the centre catÃ²lic de l'hospitalet (catholic center of l'hospitalet) and the centre dâestudis de l'hospitalet (l'hospitalet studies center). she has also been affiliated with the conc, a catalan union confederated with the ccoo, since 1990, and served on the works council of the linguistic normalisation consortium. ==political career== a member of the republican left of catalonia since 1990, simÃ³ was president of the local branch of erc in l'hospitalet de llobregat from 1996 to 2002. she has been a member of the erc's national council since 1994 and of its national executive council since 1998, serving as the party's national secretary for social policy from 2001 to 2004. simÃ³ was elected to the city council of l'hopsitalet in may 2003 and named to the local council of the barcelonÃ¨s comarca, resigning both posts when she entered the catalan government later that year. she was elected to the catalan parliament in 2006 and is currentl
1968_births Catalan_politicians Living_people Ministers_of_Social_Welfare_and_Family_Affairs_of_Generalitat_de_Catalunya Republican_Left_of_Catalonia_politicians