Mercedes Hortensia Bussi Soto (22 July 1914 – 18 June 2009) was the wife of Chilean President

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

. She was married to him from 1940 until he

committed suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and subs ...

during the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

, serving as

First Lady of Chile The First Lady of Chile ( es, Primera Dama de Chile) is the title for the wife of the president of Chile, who is traditionally responsible for directing and coordinating activities in the social field of the presidency and also accompany the pres ...

from 1970 to 1973. Her daughters are Beatriz,

Isabel Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

and Carmen Paz.

Life

Bussi, nicknamed "Tencha", was born in

Rancagua Rancagua () is a city and commune in central Chile and part of the Rancagua conurbation. It is the capital of the Cachapoal Province and of the O'Higgins Region, located south of the national capital of Santiago. It was originally named Sant ...

to a well-off family. She was the daughter of Ciro Bussi Aguilera, an officer in the country's merchant marine and Mercedes Soto García. She graduated from the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

as a teacher of History and Geography and worked as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

at the National Statistics Office. Bussi met her future husband in the aftermath of the 1939 Chillán earthquake,''The Guardian'' obituary for Hortensia Bussi de Allende
/ref> in which more than 40.000 Chileans lost their lives. They were involved in the campaign for those made homeless by the earthquake. They married a year later, in 1940. Allende then became

minister of health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

in the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

government of

Pedro Aguirre Cerda Pedro Abelino Aguirre Cerda (; February 6, 1879 – November 25, 1941) was a Chilean political figure, educator, and lawyer who served as the 22nd president of Chile from 1938 until his death in 1941. A member of the Radical Party since 1906, ...

, at the start of his political career. After the military coup which overthrew her husband, Bussi went into exile in Mexico, and campaigned against the

Pinochet regime Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

. In 1975, she was a member of the jury at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival, and in 1977 she stood as candidate for

Rector of the University of Glasgow The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...

, losing to the student John Bell.University of Glasgow Story-John Bell
/ref> She returned to Chile in 1988.Hortensia Bussi SotoCHILEAN FIRST LADY
/ref>

Death

Bussi returned to Chile in 1990 after 17 years in exile and kept a quiet life. She died at the age of 94 in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

References

External links

* http://visualrian.com/images/item/2953
Hortensia Bussi de Allende's obituary
* 1914 births 2009 deaths Allende family Chilean democracy activists Chilean exiles Chilean human rights activists Lenin Peace Prize recipients Chilean people of Italian descent First Ladies of Chile People from Valparaíso Salvador Allende People of the Cold War {{Chile-bio-stub