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Name: Maria Estela Martínez de Perón
Lifetime: February 4, 1931 – Present
What She’s Known For: The United States has never had a female president. Argentina’s first female president was the first female head of state in the entire western hemisphere. She was married to the former President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón and was both his vice president and first lady while he was in office 1973-1974.
When her husband died in office, Isabel took over the presidency, inheriting both a political and economic crisis. Her presidency was short-lived, however, after a military coup – that lasted from the 1970s-80s – ousted her after less than two years in office. According to Britannica, “In 1981 she was convicted of corrupt practices, but she was paroled in the summer of that year and went into exile in Spain.”
In 2007 Perón was charged with human rights violations to determine if she had knowledge of some of the atrocities committed were during her presidency. She has never gone to court.
Why We Love Her: There is indeed controversy with Perón, with accusations thirty years later of human rights violations during her time in office. Her time in office may be ontroversial, but it’s undeniable that she established a precedent for women in politics. Perón inherited an already chaotic situation that took years to fix. Margaret Thatcher and Isabel Perón are two very controversial women in history, met with either feelings of adoration or hate. But they were still powerful women in politics that make it impossible for anyone who know their history to claim that women were too emotional for politics.
Fun Fact: Before she married Juan Perón, Isabel was a cabaret dancer.
