Hortensia Bussi

Kiss (1970)

Mercedes Hortensia Bussi Soto (born July 22, 1914 in Rancagua , † June 18, 2009 in Santiago de Chile ), also known as " La Tencha ", was a Chilean teacher, librarian and activist. In 1940 she married Salvador Allende , who was later President of Chile from 1970 until the 1973 military coup . During this time Bussi held the office of the Primera Dama de Chile .

Early life

Bussi was born in the Chilean city of Rancagua. She comes from a wealthy family, her father worked as a ship officer in the Chilean merchant fleet. Her mother died when Hortensia was three years old. She grew up in the port city of Valparaíso and attended school there before she started attending the Universidad de Chile in the capital Santiago after graduating from high school . There she studied history and geography and received a teaching qualification from the university. However, she began to work as a librarian in the library of the National Bureau of Statistics.

In 1939, in the aftermath of the severe earthquake in Chillán , Bussi met the doctor Salvador Allende, who at that time was a member of the Chilean House of Representatives . At that time, both campaigned for the many Chileans who had been made homeless by the earthquake. On March 17, 1940, Hortensia Bussi and Salvador Allende married, who at that time had already been appointed Minister of Health under President Pedro Aguirre Cerda . With him she had three daughters: Carmen Paz, Beatriz and Isabel , who later became active as a politician herself. In the following years she accompanied her husband in his unsuccessful presidential candidacies in 1958 and 1964 , but remained more active in the background.

Primera Dama de Chile

Kissing her husband Salvador Allende (1971)

After Salvador Allende received the most votes in the presidential election in Chile in 1970 and was thus elected President of Chile, Bussi took over the role of Primera Dama de Chile. In this function, she headed several associations and programs, primarily to support families, women and children. She also accompanied her husband on trips at home and abroad. In 1973 there was a military coup led by Augusto Pinochet in Chile , in which Salvador Allende took his own life. At the time of the coup, Bussi was in Allende's official residence in the Las Condes district . She survived a bombing raid on the house and first sought refuge with a family friend. The next day she was flown to Valparaíso to attend a secret funeral of her husband. However, the coffin was already sealed so she couldn't see her husband again.

Later years

A few days later she fled to Mexico with her daughters Carmen Paz and Isabel, where they were given asylum by the government of President Luis Echeverría . There she quickly became a loud critic of the Chilean dictator Pinochet. She also campaigned for human rights. In the following years she traveled to many countries around the world to promote her cause there. On September 24, 1988, she finally returned to Chile after 15 years in exile. Less than a month later, in the 1988 plebiscite , the Chilean people voted against Augusto Pinochet and in favor of a return to democracy. Bussi took over the presidency of the Fundación Salvador Allende. In the following years, however, she largely withdrew from public life and lived in her house in Santiago. She died there on June 18, 2009. Two days later she was buried in the Cementerio General de Chile .

Web links

Commons : Hortensia Bussi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wiener Zeitung Online: - Salvador Allende's widow Hortensia Bussi is dead. Accessed July 17, 2021 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Hortensia Bussi De Allende: Widow of Salvador Allende who helped lead. October 23, 2011, accessed July 17, 2021 . 
3. ^ ^{A b} Cooperativa.cl : fallenció Hortensia Bussi, viuda de Salvador Allende. Retrieved July 17, 2021 (Spanish). 
4. ^ The Associated Press: Hortensia Bussi, Wife of Salvador Allende of Chile, Dies at 94 . In: The New York Times . June 19, 2009, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed July 17, 2021]).
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Hortensia Bussi de Allende. Accessed July 17, 2021 . 
6. ^ Fallce Hortensia Bussi, viuda del presidente chileno Salvador Allende | Mundo | elmundo.es. Retrieved July 17, 2021 . 
7. ^ Hortensia Bussi - Biografía de la mujer de Salvador Allende. Retrieved July 17, 2021 (es-CL). 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Hortensia Bussi de Allende | Obituary. June 24, 2009, accessed July 17, 2021 . 
9. ^ Fallce Hortensia Bussi, viuda de Salvador Allende. June 18, 2009, Retrieved July 17, 2021 (Spanish). 
10. ↑ Newsline: Hortensia Bussi, widow of Salvador Allende died. Retrieved July 17, 2021 . 
11. ↑ El Mercurio SAP: Velatorio de Hortensia Bussi se realizará en el Congreso Nacional ex | Emol.com. June 18, 2009, Retrieved July 17, 2021 (Spanish).