María Isabel Allende Bussi (, , ; born 18 January 1945) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an politician. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and daughter of former

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

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 ...

and

Hortensia Bussi Mercedes Hortensia Bussi Soto (22 July 1914 – 18 June 2009) was the wife of Chilean President Salvador Allende. She was married to him from 1940 until he committed suicide during the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, serving as First Lady of Chil ...

, Allende served as a deputy from 1994 to 2010 and in March 2010 she became a Senator for the Atacama Region. On 28 February 2014, she was selected as president of the Senate, as of 11 March 2014, making her the first woman president of the Senate in

Chilean history The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from ...

Biography

She went to the Maisonette College, and unlike her sisters, was initially attracted to the Catholic Church and received her first communion. In 1962, at the age of 17, she began studying sociology, and joined the university's socialist brigade. Five years later she accompanied her father to the congress of the Socialist Party in Chile. On 11 September 1973, the day of the military coup led by General

Augusto Pinochet 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 ...

, Isabel was the last person to enter the presidential palace. After the military began to bomb the presidential palace, and the outcome was already clear, her father ordered the women to leave. Isabel's father Salvador Allende, the first Marxist president elected in the Americas, and sitting president at the time of the coup, killed himself rather than surrender to coup plotters led by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973. The military coup launched a bloody 17-year dictatorship. Isabel obtained political asylum in Mexico, with her mother and her sister Beatriz, where she spent sixteen years in exile, before returning to Chile in 1989, in the final stretch of the military regime. Her first marriage, with Sergio Meza, did not last for long, but they had a son, Gonzalo. Gonzalo (1965-2010) was an activist in the "No" movement leading up to the 1988 plebiscite and a founder of the Party for Democracy. With her second husband, Romilio Tambutti, she has a daughter named Marcia. Other members of the

Allende family The Allende family is a Chilean family of Spanish descent. They became well known during the 19th century and are based in Santiago. They have played a very significant role in Chilean politics. Relatives * Ramón Allende Padín (1845–1884 ...

have played important roles in Chilean politics. Her niece

Maya Fernández Maya Alejandra Fernández Allende (born 27 September 1971, in Santiago de Chile) is a Chilean biologist, veterinarian and politician, a member of the Socialist Party of Chile (PS) who has been serving as Minister of National Defense of Chile s ...

, also a member of the Socialist Party, is Minister of Defense under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean left-wing politician who is the 37th and current president of Chile, serving since 11 March 2022. Boric studied in the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile, and was the president o ...

since March 2022. Gay rights activist Alejandro Fernández Allende is her nephew.

Political career

On returning to her homeland, Allende began a successful political career as a member of the Socialist Party of Chile. After Chile's return to democracy in 1990, she was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, serving as its

between 2003 and 2004, becoming the second woman to do so after Adriana Muñoz. Allende, along with

Soledad Alvear María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela (born September 17, 1950), is a Chilean lawyer and Christian Democrat politician, who was a cabinet member of the Aylwin, Frei and Lagos administrations. She was president of the Christian Democrat Party (PDC) fro ...

and several other Senators, sponsored a bill to extend voting rights to Chileans living abroad. The right to vote from overseas was codified by Law No. 20.748, which allowed thousands of Chileans to vote in the 2020 national plebiscite and in presidential elections. Among her principle successes, Allende has worked to reform Chile's

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

law; a law that allows disabled individuals to be judges and notaries; and a law permitting

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

on three grounds. She has also worked for the passage of bills on

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

, the water code, and creation of a government service for Trans-Pacific partnership.

References

External links

* (Spanish)
Biography
from the Chilean National Congress

New York Times on exhumation of Salvador Allende {{DEFAULTSORT:Allende, Isabel 1945 births Living people People from Santiago

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 ...

Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean people of Italian descent Socialist Party of Chile politicians Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Deputies of the XLIX Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the L Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Presidents of the Senate of Chile Senators of the LIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LVI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Women legislative speakers 20th-century Chilean women politicians 21st-century Chilean women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Women members of the Senate of Chile Chilean agnostics University of Chile alumni University of Chile faculty National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Daughters of national leaders Children of presidents of Chile Chilean exiles

Biography

Political career

See also

References

External links