Raquel Arbaje Soneh (born 21 September 1970) is a Dominican businesswoman and children's literature writer. She has served as the

First Lady of the Dominican Republic The First Lady of the Dominican Republic the title referring to the wife, or designee, of the president of the Dominican Republic. The official government Office of the First Lady was created by Decree 741-00 on September 10, 2000. The position o ...

, since August 2020 as the wife of President,

Luis Abinader Luis Rodolfo Abinader Corona (; born 12 July 1967) is a Dominican economist, businessman, and politician who is serving as the 54th president of the Dominican Republic since 2020. He served as the Modern Revolutionary Party candidate for Presi ...

Early life

Arbaje is the daughter of businessman Elías Arbaje Farah and Margarita Soneh, who were both of Lebanese descent. She is the third of four siblings, including Ricardo (who is deceased), Eduardo, and Monica. Her father, Elías Arbaje Farah, a businessman who manufactured mattresses, died on 16 November 2009.

Education

Arbaje graduated summa cum laude with business administration degree from the

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University ( es, Universidad Iberoamericana), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'') is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican provi ...

(UNIBE) in

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. She speaks fluent Spanish, English, and French, and has some knowledge of Italian and

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 ...

. Arbaje is a businesswoman and author of children's literature. She also recorded a song, "'Mi cajita de valores", with the proceeds benefiting the

Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19th century. While working ...

children's nonprofit.

Personal life

She married economist

. Together, the couple have three children – Graciela Lucía, Esther Patricia and Adriana Margarita Abinader Arbaje. Together with Abinader, Arbaje composed the anthem for the

Modern Revolutionary Party The Modern Revolutionary Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Moderno or PRM) is a political party in the Dominican Republic. It emerged after a new division within the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD). It was recognized on 9 September 2014. Th ...

, which was co-founded by her husband in 2014. In June 2020, both Arbaje and Abinader tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

during the 2020 presidential election campaign. Both recovered from the coronavirus.

First Lady

Raquel Arbaje became First Lady of the Dominican Republic on 16 August 2020. Unlike her immediate predecessors, President Abinader and First Lady Arbaje announced that the government would eliminate funding for the Office of the First Lady during his presidential tenure. Instead, Arbaje had proposed a much smaller office to handle the schedule and role of the first lady during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbaje, Raquel Living people Date of birth unknown Year of birth unknown First Ladies of the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic businesspeople Dominican Republic children's writers Dominican Republic women writers Dominican Republic composers Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) alumni Dominican Republic people of Lebanese descent White Dominicans People from Santo Domingo 1970 births