Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch (23 July 1931 – 6 September 2020) was a Guatemalan businesswoman and philanthropist who was awarded the

Order of the Quetzal The Order of the Quetzal () is Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the so ...

in 2005.

Biography

Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch was born at

San Cristóbal Totonicapán San Cristóbal Totonicapán is a town, with a population of 36,119,Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & to ...

on 23 July 1931, the daughter of

Juan Bautista Gutiérrez Juan Bautista Gutiérrez Blanco (14 June 1896 – November 1978) was a Spanish-Guatemalan businessman. He founded the Guatemalan company Corporación Multi Inversiones, as well as its philanthropic organization, Juan Bautista Gutiérrez Foundat ...

, founder of the

Corporación Multi Inversiones Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI; Spanish for ''Multi Investment Corporation'') is a multinational corporation based in Guatemala. The firm was founded as a family business by Juan Bautista Gutiérrez in the 1920s. CMI invests, provides emp ...

(CMI). She lived until the age of 5 in Totonicapán, after which her family moved to

Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is a municipality and namesake department in western Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may reach above ...

, where she remained until at age 19. She married Alfonso Bosch; they had five children, including

Juan Luis Juan Francisco Luis (July 10, 1940 – June 4, 2011) was a Puerto Rican-U.S. Virgin Islander politician who served as the third elected List of governors of the United States Virgin Islands, Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, and the te ...

and Felipe Bosch Gutiérrez, both businessmen. Her husband, along with her brother Dionisio, died in a plane crash in 1974 while most of her children were still young. She was founder and president of Fundaniñas, an organization that cares for abandoned girls, girls in conflict with the law, and young, low-income girls with potential. She was the first female president of a

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

in Central America. She was involved in a scholarship program for low-income Guatemalan youths pursue a college education, a health program for 13 to 18-year old youths, and a nutrition program addressing the problem of chronic malnutrition in rural Guatemala. Isabel de Bosch was also president of the Juan Bautista Gutierrez Foundation, a Guatemalan philanthropic organization that belongs to Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI). The Foundation was established in 1974 and provided relief in the earthquake of 1976,

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...

in 1998 and the hospital crisis of 2015. She died in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

on 6 September 2020. The Isabel Gutiérrez de Bosch Foundation continues her work in child development and nutrition.

Awards

* 1990: The Rotary International Paul Harris Award * 1993: Dolores Bedoya de Molina Grand Collar Award *1995: “Celebration of our Values” recognition by Banco Industrial * 2005: The

(Grand Officer), Guatemala's highest honour * 2012: Rotary International awarded Gutiérrez a special recognition to her Rotary service, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of Rotary presence in Central America *2019: Golden Fork Award, Person of the Year, at the Food Fair in Guatemala *2020: Forbes Central America recognized her as one of the most powerful women of the year

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez de Bosch, Isabel Guatemalan philanthropists 1931 births 2020 deaths 20th-century philanthropists 21st-century philanthropists 20th-century businesswomen 21st-century businesswomen Guatemalan businesspeople Order of the Quetzal 20th-century women philanthropists 21st-century women philanthropists