María Isabel Allende Bussi (, , ; born 18 January 1945) is a Chilean politician. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and the youngest daughter of former

president of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

and

Hortensia Bussi Mercedes Hortensia Bussi Soto (22 July 1914 – 18 June 2009) was the wife of Chilean President Salvador Allende. She was married to him from 1940 until he died by suicide during the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, serving as First Lady of Chile from ...

, Allende served as a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

from 1994 to 2010 and in March 2010 she became a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the Atacama Region. On 28 February 2014, she was selected as president of the Senate, a position previously held by her father in the 1960s, making her the first female president of the Senate in Chilean history.

Biography

Allende attended the Maisonette College, and unlike her sisters, was initially attracted to the Catholic Church and received her first communion. In 1962, at the age of 17, she began studying sociology, and joined the university's socialist brigade. Five years later she accompanied her father to the congress of the Socialist Party in Chile. On 11 September 1973, the day of the military coup led by General

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

, Allende was the last person to enter the presidential palace. After the military began to bomb the presidential palace, and the outcome was already clear, her father Salvador Allende ordered the women to leave. Salvador Allende, the first

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

president elected in the Americas, and sitting president at the time of the coup, killed himself rather than surrender to coup plotters led by General Augusto Pinochet in 1973. The military coup launched a 17-year dictatorship. Isabel obtained political asylum in Mexico, with her mother and her sister Beatriz, where she spent sixteen years in exile, before returning to Chile in 1989, in the final stretch of the military regime. Her first marriage, with Sergio Meza, did not last for long, but they had a son, Gonzalo. Gonzalo (1965-2010) was an activist in the "No" movement leading up to the 1988 plebiscite and a founder of the Party for Democracy. With her second husband, Romilio Tambutti, she has a daughter named Marcia (b. 1971). Other members of the

Allende family The Allende family is a Chilean family of Spanish descent. They became well known during the 19th century and are based in Santiago. They have played a very significant role in Chilean politics. Relatives *José Gregorio Allende Garcés, per ...

have played important roles in Chilean politics. Her niece Maya Fernández, also a member of the Socialist Party, is

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Gabriel Boric Gabriel Boric Font (; born 11 February 1986) is a Chilean politician and the President of Chile since 2022. He previously served two four-year terms as a deputy in the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, Chamber of Deputies. Boric first gained prom ...

, since March 2022.

Gay rights activist A list of notable LGBTQ social movements, LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Albania * Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT org ...

Alejandro Fernández Allende is her nephew.

Political career

On returning to her homeland, Allende began a successful political career as a member of the Socialist Party of Chile. After Chile's return to democracy in 1990, she was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, serving as its

between 2003 and 2004, becoming the second woman to do so after Adriana Muñoz. Allende, along with

Soledad Alvear María Soledad Alvear Valenzuela (born September 17, 1950), is a Chilean lawyer and former Christian Democrat politician, who was a cabinet member of the Aylwin, Frei and Lagos administrations. She was president of the Christian Democrat Party ( ...

and several other Senators, sponsored a bill to extend voting rights to Chileans living abroad. The right to vote from overseas was codified by Law No. 20.748, which allowed thousands of Chileans to vote in the 2020 national plebiscite and in presidential elections. Among her principal successes, Allende has worked to reform Chile's

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

law; a law that allows disabled individuals to be judges and notaries; and a law permitting

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

on three grounds. She has also worked for the passage of bills on

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

, the water code, and creation of a government service for

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

and environmental protection. She supports adhering to the Trans-Pacific partnership.

References

External links

* (Spanish)
Biography
from the Chilean National Congress

New York Times on exhumation of Salvador Allende {{DEFAULTSORT:Allende, Isabel 1945 births Living people Politicians from Santiago, Chile

Isabel Isabel is a female name of Iberian origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of ''Elizabeth (given name), Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheba''). Arising in the 12th c ...

Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean people of Italian descent Socialist Party of Chile politicians Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Deputies of the XLIX Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the L Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Deputies of the LII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Presidents of the Senate of Chile Senators of the LIII Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LIV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LV Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Senators of the LVI Legislative Period of the National Congress of Chile Women legislative speakers 20th-century Chilean women politicians 21st-century Chilean women politicians Women members of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile Women members of the Senate of Chile Chilean agnostics University of Chile alumni Academic staff of the University of Chile National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni Children of presidents of Chile Chilean exiles

Biography

Political career

See also

References

External links