Lila Teresita Abaunza Abaunza de Bolaños (29 January 1929 – 17 July 2008) was the

First Lady of Nicaragua The First Lady of Nicaragua (Spanish: ''Primera dama de Nicaragua'') is the title attributed to the wife of the President of Nicaragua, or their chosen designee, such as a daughter or other relative. The current incumbent first lady is Rosario Mur ...

from 2002 until 2007 and the wife of the former

President of Nicaragua The president of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de Nicaragua), officially known as the president of the Republic of Nicaragua ( es, Presidente de la República de Nicaragua), is the head of state and head of government of Nicaragua. The office was ...

Enrique Bolaños Enrique José Bolaños Geyer (; 13 May 1928 – 14 June 2021) was a Nicaraguan politician who served as President of Nicaragua from 10 January 2002 to 10 January 2007. From 1997 to 2002, Bolaños served as vice president under Arnoldo Alem� ...

. She was noted for her charitable work.

Biography

Lila Teresita Abaunza Abaunza was born in

Masaya Masaya () is the capital city of Masaya Department in Nicaragua. It is situated approximately 14 km west of Granada and 31 km southeast of Managua. It is located just east of the Masaya Volcano, an active volcano from which the cit ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, member of a prestigious family. Her father was Alejandro Abaunza Espinoza, President of the Congress of Nicaragua and Public Work Minister and Agriculture in the Partido Liberal, son of Carlos Abaunza Cuadra and wife Dolores Espinoza. Her mother was his wife and first cousin Esmeralda Abaunza Solórzano, daughter of Fernando Abaunza Cuadra and wife Marina Solórzano

Vasconcelos Vasconcelos (also Vasconcellos) is a Portuguese surname. Today it can be found in Portugal, Brazil, and elsewhere in the Portuguese-speaking world. People * Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos (1837–1880), Portuguese Roman Catholic Archbishop of G ...

, daughter of Enrique Solórzano Cardoze and wife Luz

, both of

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

descent, and he the son of Ramón Solórzano Montealegre and second wife Mónica Cardoze, who by his first wife Juana Reyes Robira had Federico Solórzano Reyes, married to Rosa Gutiérrez, the parents of

Carlos José Solórzano Carlos José Solórzano Gutiérrez (17 January 1860 in Managua – 30 August 1936 in San José, Costa Rica) was the President of Nicaragua between 1 January 1925 and 14 March 1926. History He headed a political coalition which was moderate C ...

, 58th President of Nicaragua. She was a relative by both parents of

Justo Abaunza Justo Abaunza y Muñoz de Avilés (1778 – 1872) was a Costa Rican-born legitimist Nicaraguan lawyer and politician who served as acting Supreme Director of Nicaragua from 1 April to 5 May 1851, and as provisional Supreme Director appointed by ...

, 25th and 27th President of Nicaragua, of

Fernando Guzmán Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

, 37th President of Nicaragua and by both parents of

José Vicente Cuadra José Vicente De la Cuadra y Ruy Lugo (25 July 1812, in Granada, Nicaragua – 10 December 1894) served as President of Nicaragua from 1 March 1871 to 1 March 1875 during that country's late-19th-century reconstruction. As a member of the Conservat ...

, 38th President of Nicaragua. Abaunza studied at the La Asunción College in

Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicara ...

and the Sacred Heart Preparatory Menlo Park, in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. In 1949 she married her relative

, son of Mr. Nicolás Bolaños Cortés and Amanda Geyer Abaunza. Their five children were Enrique José, Lucía Amanda, Jorge Alejandro (deceased, 2005), Javier Gregorio (deceased, 2007) and Alberto (deceased, 1972). Lila de Bolaños spent much of her life undertaking charitable work and helping the poor and destitute. As wife of the President she contributed to aid in hospitals, visiting asylums of the old, giving medical support and campaigning to restore old buildings, particularly those destroyed by disasters such as

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch is the second-deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, causing over 11,000 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately 7,000 in Honduras and 3,800 in Nicaragua due to cataclysmic flooding from the slow motion ...

. She did much work with disabled people. In June 2008 she was transported by air from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

to her home in El Raizón about 22 miles outside

after undergoing a serious deterioration in health. During this period she was reportedly in much pain and died on 17 July 2008 after an illness of some seven weeks. Her funeral took place on July 19 and she was buried in the Bolaños family mausoleum in Masaya.

Culinary

Abaunza's

Nacatamal A ''nacatamal'' is a traditional dish found in Nicaragua and Honduras similar to the ''tamal'' and to the ''hallaca''. Its name originates from the Nawat language spoken by the Nicarao, which were situated on the Southern Pacific coast of Nicara ...

es were said to be amongst the best in Nicaragua.El Nuevo Diari
Ing. Enrique Bolaños confirma gravedad de doña Lila T.
She was also known to be very outspoken and frank in her role as first lady.

References

External links

El Nuevo Diario: Goodbye to Lila T. de Bolaños

Doña Lila T. deja un legado social importante

El Sentinel (Orland, Fl): Former Nicaraguan First Lady Lila T.de Bolaños Dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abaunza, Lila 1929 births 2008 deaths People from Masaya First ladies of Nicaragua Nicaraguan people of Portuguese descent