Martha Bucaram Ortiz (12 October 1941, Guayaquil – 24 May 1981, Celica) was an Ecuadorian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

who was

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 ...

to President Jaime Roldós Aguilera, with whom she was killed in a plane crash.

Biography

Martha Bucaram Ortiz was the firstborn child of Lebanese immigrant Jacobo Bucaram Elmhalin and Ecuadorian Rina Ortiz Caicedo, sister of athlete and future President of Ecuador,

Abdalá Bucaram Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortiz ( ; ; born 20 February 1952) is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer who was President of Ecuador from 10 August 1996, to 6 February 1997. As President, Abdalá Bucaram was nicknamed "El Loco Que Ama" ("The Madman Wh ...

. In 1962, she married Jaime Roldós Aguilera and gave birth to three children. Her firstborn daughter,

Martha Roldós Martha Rina Victoria Roldós Bucaram ( Guayaquil, Ecuador; 1963) is an Ecuadorian economist and politician. Her parents were the former president of the Republic Jaime Roldós Aguilera and Martha Bucaram, who both died in a plane crash in Loj ...

, has entered politics and became a deputy in the

Ethics and Democracy Network The Ethics and Democracy Network (Spanish ''Red Ética y Democracia'', RED) was a centre-left political party in Ecuador. It was formed by labour union leaders and other leftist militants, led by León Roldós, former vice-president and brother o ...

party.

First Lady of Ecuador

When Jaime Roldós Aguilera assumed the Presidency of Ecuador, Bucaram became the

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

and assumed the traditional office of president of the

National Institute for Children and the Family National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. As a

, Bucaram fought for changes to the Civil Code of Ecuador that would expand the role of women in Ecuadorian society. As First Lady, she created the Office of Women, attached to the Presidency since 1980.

Death

On Sunday, May 24, 1981 a Beechcraft Super King Air, carrying the President and an entourage to a military ceremony in honor of the fallen in the Paquisha War, crashed into Huairapungo Hill, near the town of Guachanamá, in the

Celica Canton Celica is a canton in Loja Province, Ecuador. Its seat is Celica. The canton is located in the west of the province and is bordered by the cantons of Puyango and Paltas in the north, Sozoranga in the east, Macará in the south, and Pindal and ...

Loja Province Loja Province () is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west with El Oro Province, on the north with El Azuay, and on the east with Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mer ...

. The crash, at 2360 meters over sea level (7800 ft.), left no survivors: killed were the president, his wife, the

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Marco Subía Martinez Marco may refer to: People * Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco * Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor * Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin * Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...

and his wife, two aides-de-camp, a flight attendant and both pilots. The bodies were reportedly burned beyond recognition.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bucaram, Martha 1941 births 1981 deaths Ecuadorian people of Lebanese descent First ladies of Ecuador Ecuadorian women lawyers Ecuadorian feminists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Ecuador Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1981 20th-century women lawyers