Hortensia Bussi

Who was Hortensia Bussi?

Mercedes Hortensia Bussi Soto de Allende was the wife of Chilean President Salvador Allende. She was married to him from 1940 until he was deposed and died in 1973, serving as First Lady of Chile from 1970 to 1973. Her daughters are Beatriz, Isabel and Carmen Paz.

Bussi Soto, nicknamed "Tencha", was born in Valparaíso to a well-off family. She was the daughter of Ciro Bussi, an officer in the country's merchant marine. She graduated from the University of Chile as a teacher of History and Geography and worked as a librarian at the National Statistics Office.

She met her future husband in the aftermath of the 1939 Chillán earthquake, where they were involved in the campaign for those made homeless by the earthquake. They married a year later, in 1940. Allende then became minister of health in the Popular Front government of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, at the start of his political career.

After the military coup which overthrew her husband, Bussi went into exile in Mexico. She campaigned against the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1975 she was a member of the jury at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival.