Josefina Isabel Villalobos Páramo (born August 5, 1924) is an American-born Colombian-Ecuadorian public servant. She was the

First Lady of Ecuador First ladies and gentlemen of Ecuador are the wives and husbands of the presidents of Ecuador. There has been only one First Gentleman, first gentleman of Ecuador to date, Eduardo Peña Triviño, the husband of former acting president Rosalía Ar ...

serving from August 10, 1992, through August 10, 1996, when her husband,

Sixto Durán Ballén Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén Cordovez (14 July 1921 – 15 November 2016) was an Ecuadorian political figure and architect. He served as Mayor of Quito between 1970 and 1978. In 1951, he co-founded a political party, the Social Christian Party. ...

, served as

President of Ecuador The president of Ecuador ( es, Presidente del Ecuador), officially called the Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador ( es, Presidente Constitucional de la República del Ecuador), serves as both the head of state and head of govern ...

Early life

Villalobos was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n parents. In 1945, she married

First Lady (1992–1996)

As the first lady of the nation, Villalobos was known in the media and by the Ecuadorian people Finita de Durán-Ballén. When she became first lady, she played a vital role in the creation of the (INNFA). She was known for hosting of

Carondelet Palace Carondelet Palace ( es, Palacio de Carondelet) is the seat of government of the Republic of Ecuador, located in Quito. Access is by the public space known as Independence Square or Plaza Grande (colloquial name), around which are also the Arch ...

and accompanying her husband in various trips nationally and internationally. Josefina was the first older lady to assume the role, since she was 68 years old when her husband won the presidency of the Republic in 1992.

Personal life

Ballén and Villalobos had eight children. After Ballén left office, the two retired and lived in

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. On November 15, 2016, Ballén died at the age of 95.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalobos, Josefina 1924 births Living people First ladies of Ecuador Colombian emigrants to Ecuador People from New York City Colombian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Ecuadorian women