Nydia Quintero Turbay (born 28 August 1932)
is the ex-wife of the 25th
president of Colombia,
Julio César Turbay Ayala
Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United S ...
, and served as
First Lady of Colombia from 1978 to 1982 when they were still married.
She is the founder and former president of , a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
dedicated to improving the condition of impoverished Colombian families through educational and nutritional programs for children, the disabled and the poor.
Personal life
She was born on 28 August 1932 in
Neiva, Huila to Jorge Quintero Céspedes and Adhalía Turbay Ayala. She is of
Lebanese and
Basque descent. She attended in Neiva where she lived until the death of her father when she moved to Bogotá to study at the '.
On 18 May 1948, against the wishes of her family, she married her maternal uncle
Julio César Turbay Ayala
Julio César Turbay Ayala (18 June 1916 – 13 September 2005) was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as the 25th President of Colombia from 1978 to 1982. He also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Ambassador to the United S ...
in a clandestine wedding in a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
ceremony at Santa Teresita Church in Bogotá.
From their marriage they had four children:
Julio César,
Diana Consuelo,
Claudia, and María Victoria. She divorced her husband in 1983 after his term as president of Colombia and hers as first lady had ended, and remarried the following year in 1984 to
Gustavo Balcázar Monzón,
her marriage to former President Turbay Ayala was
annulled by the Catholic Church in 1986.
Honour
* : Dame Grand Cross of the
Royal Order of Isabella the CatholicBoletín Oficial del Estado
(PDF) Accessed 19 December 2019.
See also
* Bertha Puga Martínez
References
1932 births
Living people
People from Huila Department
Nydia
Colombian people of Lebanese descent
Colombian people of Basque descent
First ladies of Colombia
Colombian philanthropists
Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
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