Lucia topolansky biography
Lucia Topolansky is Uruguay's first female vice president
Lucia Topolansky, senator and wife of ex-President Jose Mujica, has become Uruguay's first female vice-president.
Ms Topolansky took over after the resignation of Jose Sendic amid corruption allegations.
A former left-wing guerrilla like her husband, she escaped prison, spent 13 years in jail, and survived torture.
Uruguay has been led by the left-wing Frente Amplio party, which has promoted generous social welfare policies, since 2005.
Under the constitution, Mr Sendic, the former vice-president, should have been replaced by the senator with the most votes in the last elections.
That should have been Jose Mujica, the former president, who became popular across the world for giving away most of his salary and was dubbed "the world's poorest president".
However Mr Mujica is ineligible due to a prohibition on presidential re-election, so the senator next in line was his wife.
Ms Topolansky will also head the Senate and the Uruguayan congress's general assembly.
Mr Mujica and Ms Topolansky were involved in Uruguay's armed insurgency, known as the Tupamaro movement, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Ms Topolansky left her upper class family to join the insurgency, and was nicknamed "La Tronca" ("The Tree Trunk") for her reputation for toughness, after spending time in prison.
She was one of 38 political prisoners involved in a high-profile prison escape from the Carcel Cabildo, a women's prison, in 1971.
The women crawled through excrement and fumes in the sewage pipes for 45 minutes until they reached another tunnel to a safe house dug by comrades on the outside.
However, she was recaptured a few months later, and spent years in solitary confinement.
Ms Topolansky does not talk much about her militant past, but has revealed she took part in armed robberies and for years rumours have circulated she
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Topolansky and the second or maternal family name is Saavedra.
| Lucía Topolansky | |
|---|---|
| Lucía Topolansky in 2014 | |
| 17th Vice President of Uruguay | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 13 September 2017 | |
| President | Tabaré Vázquez |
| Preceded by | Raúl Sendic |
| Succeeded by | Beatriz Argimón (elect) |
| First Lady of Uruguay | |
In office 1 March 2010 – 1 March 2015 | |
| President | José Mujica |
| Preceded by | María Auxiliadora Delgado |
| Succeeded by | María Auxiliadora Delgado |
| Senator of Uruguay | |
In office 15 February 2005 – 12 September 2017 | |
| Representative of Uruguay for Montevideo | |
In office 15 February 2000 – 14 February 2005 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lucía Topolansky Saavedra 25 September 1944(1944-09-25) (age 80) Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Political party | Movement of Popular Participation |
| Other political affiliations | Broad Front |
| Spouse(s) | José Mujica (m. 2005) |
| Parents | Luis Topolansky María Elia Saavedra |
Lucía Topolansky Saavedra (born 25 September 1944) is a Uruguayan politician who served as a Senator from 2005 to 2017. Topolansky, who is the wife of former PresidentJosé Mujica, was the First Lady of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. She is currently serving as Vice President of Uruguay starting from September 2017, after Raúl Fernando Sendic's resignation.
Background[]
During her childhood she studied in the College Sacré Cœur de las Hermanas Dominicas in Montevideo with her twin sister. She then entered the Instituto Alfredo Vásquez Acevedo and there she became part of the guild of students.
She has been associated with the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) for many years, linked with the former guerilla movement the Tupamaros.
She is of a Polish noble family ancestry on her father's side (Luis Topolansky).
She is married to José Mujica, who Lucía Topolansky is the most voted senator in Uruguay. She was vice president of the Republic between September 2017 and February 2020, the first Uruguayan woman in that responsibility. It is a symbol of the country, and not a fashion star. Guerrilla who was imprisoned, who escaped and was imprisoned again until the end of the dictatorship; tireless social fighter until today, empowered woman in the Frente Amplio government, companion in struggle and life since her youth of former Uruguayan president Pepe Mujica. Lucia is a simple woman, with straight words, a warm voice, an impressive chronological and affective memory; of life anecdotes, and plans, dreams and actions in her 76 years … I met her years ago in Uruguay. Now the challenge was to interview her on WhatsApp. The dialogue flowed between the Havana neighborhood of La Víbora and La Chacra de Montevideo. Communications were excellent! A kind of plan A, B and C, as we are trained in Cuba, they gave us several copies of the recording, just in case … My son, a young music student put together a whole tech racket… he was still excited! And when the phone rang, she was on the other end of the line with her invariable River Plata accent: Photo: Courtesy of the interviewee. Lucia Topolansky-. Hi, how are you? Maribel Acosta Damas-. How are you Lucia? LT-. Very good. Here we are working a little at home, because as I am 76 years old, I still cannot participate myself to all the legislative activity. MAD-. And is he in good health? LT-. My health is perfect, what I try is to avoid getting infected with the pandemic … MAD-. And how is Pepe? LT-. El Pepe is phenomenal! The problem that he has, apart from his 86 years, is that he cannot be vaccinated due to a previous disease that he had, so those of us around us have to take great care not to infect him because he has no chance, even with the vacci Uruguayan politician (born 1944) In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Topolansky and the second or maternal family name is Saavedra. Lucía Topolansky Saavedra (born 25 September 1944) is a Uruguayan politician and former revolutionary who served as the 17th Vice President of Uruguay from September 2017 to March 2020. A member of the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) — Broad Front, she also served as Senator of the Republic from 2020 to 2022 and from 2005 to 2017, as National Representative from 2000 to 2005 and as First Lady of Uruguay as the wife of president José Mujica from 2010 to 2015. Raised in an upper-class family, in 1969 Topolansky joined the far-left guerrilla group Tupamaros and went underground. In 1985, due to the amnesty law, she was released and participated in the founding of the MPP, starting her political career. In 1995 she was elected as a member of the Montevideo legislature, and in 2004 she was elected as a substitute National Representative, assuming the seat after the death of the incumbent Jorge Quartino. However, she took over as Senator of the Republic, as she was the first substitute for her husband José Mujica who left the seat to take office as Minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries in 2005. She was a candidate for Intendant of Montevideo in the 2015 municipal elections, being defeated by Daniel Martínez Villamil. In September 2017, she took office as Vice President of Uruguay after the resignation of Raúl Sendic Rodríguez, becoming the first woman to hold the position. Topolansky and her twin sister María Elia were born on 25 September 1944 in Montevideo, the youngest of seven children of civil engineer and construction businessman Luis Topolansky Müller and María Elia Saavedra Rodríguez. The Topolansky family are of Polish noble ancestry originally from Kraków; Luis Topolansky was born in B Lucía Topolansky: If I were on the Nobel committee, I would have no doubts about the award for Cuban doctors!
Lucía Topolansky
Early life