María Auxiliadora Delgado

María Auxiliadora Delgado San Martín (11 March 1937 – 31 July 2019) was an Uruguayan civil servant, health advocate, and wife of President Tabaré Vázquez. She served as First Lady of Uruguay from 2005 to 2010 and from 2015 up to her death in 2019.

María Auxiliadora Delgado
Auxiliadora in 2007
First Lady of Uruguay
In role
1 March 2015 – 31 July 2019
PresidentTabaré Vázquez
Preceded byLucía Topolansky
Succeeded byLorena Ponce de León (2020)
In role
1 March 2005 – 2 March 2010
PresidentTabaré Vázquez
Preceded byMercedes Menafra
Succeeded byLucía Topolansky
Personal details
Born
María Auxiliadora Delgado San Martín

(1937-03-11)11 March 1937
Montevideo, Uruguay
Died31 July 2019(2019-07-31) (aged 82)
Montevideo, Uruguay
Spouse
(m. 1964)
ChildrenÁlvaro, Fabián, Ignacio, Javier

Early life

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Auxiliadora met her husband, Tabaré Vázquez, when he was just 16 years old, and she was 19 years old.[1] She worked for the Caja de Jubilaciones y Pensiones (Pension Fund) for 32 years before her retirement.[1]

First Lady

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Auxiliadora's signature initiative as First Lady was a national program to improve dental health and oral hygiene. She oversaw the national campaign, with an emphasis on students from rural schools and communities.[1][2] Her program, Plan Bucal, which was launched in 2005, has provided dental services to more than 100,000 children across Uruguay, as of 2015.[3] In December 2015, the General Assembly of Uruguay honored her with an award for her work.[3]

The First Lady rarely granted interviews during her tenures.

Death

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She died of a heart attack on 31 July 2019.[4] Her husband survived her by 16 months, dying of cancer in December 2020.[5] Both are buried at Cementerio de La Teja, Montevideo.

Bibliography

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  • Vierci, Pablo (2015). Ellas 5. Montevideo: Aguaclara. ISBN 9789974994232.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "María Auxiliadora no se muestra pero se deja ver". El País. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  2. ^ "La salud bucal llegó a las escuelas rurales". El País. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b "María Auxiliadora Delgado recibió un reconocimiento en el Palacio Legislativo". Teledoce. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Falleció esposa del presidente Vázquez". 31 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Murió el expresidente Tabaré Vázquez". El País Uruguay (in Spanish). 6 December 2020.