Izabel Peron Third wife of Juan Peron, President of Argentina, and the first female President of Argentina from 1974-1976. Date of Birth: 04.02.1931 Country: Argentina

Biography of Isabel Peron

Isabel Peron was the third wife of Juan Peron, the President of Argentina, and the first female President of Argentina from 1974 to 1976. She met her future husband in Panama, where she worked as a dancer in a nightclub. Together with Peron, she moved to Spain in 1960. Under pressure from the church, Peron was forced to marry her, despite her being 35 years younger than him.

During Peron's return to politics, Isabel frequently traveled on his behalf to various countries in South America and Spain. It was during this time that she met the philosopher-mystic Jose Lopez Rega, who had a significant influence on her until her removal from power. Under pressure from his wife, Peron appointed Lopez as his personal secretary, and later, he became a minister. However, Lopez Rega eventually became the leader of the Argentine "death squads" - the right-wing Anti-Communist Argentine Alliance.

Unlike Peron's previous wife, Eva (Evita) Peron, whom she resembled physically, Isabel was relatively weak-willed and did not play an active role in politics.

When Peron decided to run for President of Argentina for the third time in 1973, he nominated his wife as vice president. Soon after winning the elections, Juan Peron passed away, and in 1974, Isabel Peron automatically became the head of state. She held the position of President of Argentina from July 1, 1974, to March 24, 1976. However, she was ousted from office as a result of a coup organized by General Jorge Rafael Videla. She was placed under house arrest and was later exiled to Spain in 1981.

Isabel was the first woman in the world to hold the position of President of any country (although she was not elected to this position) and the first woman to lead a republic in the Western Hemisphere. If we consider women who were heads of state in republics that did not use the title of president, she was the fourth in the world (after the female leaders of Tuvan, Mongolia, and the People's Republic of China).

In January 2007, an arrest warrant was issued for Isabel Peron in Argentina, as she is considered to be involved in the murders and disappearances of hundreds of Argentinians, and extradition is demanded. According to estimates by human rights organizations, between 1974 and 1976, nearly 1,500 left-wing activists were killed in the country by members of the Anti-Communist Argentine Alliance, which allegedly acted with Isabel Peron's personal sanction.