Roberto Emilio Arias (26 October 1918 – 22 November 1989), known as "Tito", was a Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat and journalist who was the husband of

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

Dame

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

. Arias was from a prominent Panamanian political family, whose members had reached the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

four times; amongst them his father

Harmodio Arias Harmodio Arias Madrid (3 July 1886 – 23 December 1962) was a Panamanian politician. He served as acting President of Panama in January 1931 and again from June 5, 1932, to October 1, 1936, after winning the 1932 presidential election. Fa ...

Early life

Born in 1918, Arias was educated at Peddie School in

Hightstown Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,494,New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, and at St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, England. From 1942 to 1946, he edited his family's newspaper, ''La Hora''.Obituary
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 23 November 1989.

Marriage to Fonteyn

In 1955, Arias married English ballerina

, after divorcing his first wife, with whom he had three children. After his marriage, Arias was appointed as Panama's ambassador to the United Kingdom. In 1959, he and Fonteyn were charged with attempted gun-smuggling from their

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

off the coast of Panama and he was accused of fomenting a revolt against President

Ernesto de la Guardia Ernesto de la Guardia Navarro (May 30, 1904 in Panama City, Panama – May 2, 1983 in Panama City) was president of Panama from October 1, 1956 to October 1, 1960. He belonged to the National Patriotic Coalition (CNP). Early life and educa ...

Jr. She was immediately deported to England; Arias took refuge in the Brazilian Embassy for two months and was then given safe conduct out of the country. Eventually the charges were dropped and, after a governmental change, the couple were permitted to return to Panama. Documents released in March 2010 by the British government showed that they were both involved in the unsuccessful coup attempt.

Politics

In May 1964, Arias was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, his first venture into active politics. Two months later, he was shot in an argument with a friend and former political associate, Alberto Jiménez, on a street corner in a suburb of

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

. It was widely rumored that the shooting was a result of an affair that Arias was having with Jimenez's wife.Review of Meredith Daneman's biography ''Margot Fonteyn''
''New York Times'', 5 December 2004. Arias was treated for 18 months in British hospitals and spent the rest of his life as a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

, using a wheelchair. One of the reasons Fonteyn continued to dance so late in life was to pay Arias' enormous medical bills. Colette Clark, a close friend who worked with Fonteyn on

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

galas, said:

Personal life and death

During Fonteyn's absence from Panama on tour as a ballerina, a socialite named Anabella Vallarino would move into the house as his shadow wife and move out again before Fonteyn's return. On the day of Arias' death on 22 November 1989, Vallarino committed suicide by swallowing a bottle of

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

, and the two were buried on the same day. In addition to Fonteyn, Arias was survived by two daughters, Querube Brillembourg and Rosita Vallarino; a son, Roberto Arias; two brothers, Harmodio and Gilberto; a sister, Rosario de Galindo, and six grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arias, Roberto 1918 births 1989 deaths Children of national leaders Peddie School alumni Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Panamanian victims of crime Panamanian journalists Male journalists Members of the National Assembly (Panama) People with tetraplegia Ambassadors of Panama to the United Kingdom 20th-century journalists