Laura Allende
Chilean politician (1911–1981)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laura Sofía Allende Gossens [1] (3 September 1911 – 23 May 1981) was a Chilean politician and member of the Allende family.
Laura Allende Gossens | |
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| Deputy of the Republic of Chile for the 7th Departmental Group, Santiago and the 2nd Departmental Group, Talagante | |
| In office 1965–1969 | |
| President | Eduardo Frei Montalva |
| In office 1969–1973 | |
| President | Salvador Allende |
| In office 1973 – 21 September 1973 α | |
| Succeeded by | Congress dissolved |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 September 1911 |
| Died | 23 May 1981 (aged 69) |
| Resting place | Santiago General Cemetery |
| Party | Socialist Party of Chile |
| Children | 4, including
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| Parent |
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| Relatives |
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| Education | La Universidad de Chile en Valparaíso |
| Occupation | Politician |
Early life and education
Allende was born on 3 September 1911 in Valparaíso, the youngest daughter of Salvador Allende Castro and Laura Gossens Uribe.[2] Through her father, Allende was a member of the Allende family, a prominent Chilean political family. Allende's older brother was the Doctor and Chilean President, Salvador Allende.[2]
Educated at the Colegio de los Sagrados Corazones de Valparaíso-Viña del Mar and the Liceo de Viña del Mar, Allende studied law at the La Universidad de Chile en Valparaíso (present-day University of Valparaíso).[2] While at the university Allende joined The Socialist Youth of Chile, the youth wing of Socialist Party of Chile.[2]
Family
Allende married Gastón Pascal Lyon (1909–1993) and had four children, Pedro Gastón, Marianne, the Socialist Party of Chile politician Denise Pascal, and Andrés Pascal Allende the co-founder and secretary general of the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR).[2][3][4][5]
Through her brother Salvador, Allende was the aunt of Isabel Allende and Beatriz Allende.[2] Beatriz's daughter Maya Fernández was Allende's great-niece.[2] Through her niece Verónica Pascal Ureta (1953–2000), a child psychologist, Allende is the great-aunt of Javiera Balmaceda, a film and television producer, and the actors Pedro Pascal and Lux Pascal.[6]
Political career
From 1955–1965, Allende worked for the Copper Office (Departamento del Cobre).[2] In 1965, Allende was elected Deputy of the Republic of Chile for Santiago and Talagante and was reelected twice in 1969 and 1973.[2]
Allende was part of two international delegations to Havana in 1971 and to China in May 1973.[2] At that time, she already was showing the initial symptoms of lymphatic cancer.
Arrest
On 2 November 1974, Allende was arrested at her home with her daughter Marianne, and charged with involvement with the outlawed MIR.[7][2] The same day Inés Alonso Boudat and Diana Beausire Alonso, the mother and sister of Andrés Pascal Allende's then wife Mary Ann Beausire Alonso, were also arrested.[8] Mary Ann's brother, the commercial engineer William Beausire, was abducted by DINA agents at Ministro Pistarini International Airport, Buenos Aires.[9][10][11]
Following Allende's arrest a communiqué by the Under Secretary of the Interior Enrique Montero Marx, posited that four grenades were found in Allende's home alongside letters and documents supporting the MIR.[7] Allende was detained at the Tres Álamos political prison camp, and was held in the Cuatro Álamos isolation wing for a period of 5 months.[12][13][14] During Allende's imprisonment, Gastón Pascal Lyon was also detained in isolation at Cuatro Álamos.[13] On 6 November 1974, the Mexican Government offered to accept Allende as a political exile.[15]
Life in exile
On 21 March 1975, Allende was exiled from Chile indefinitely and was deported to Mexico alongside 94 other Chilean political exiles.[16] In 1976, Sergio Insunza requested that the International Commission of Investigation into Crimes of the Military Junta in Chile (Spanish: Comisión Internacional de Investigación de Crímenes de la Junta Militar en Chile) heard Allende's testimony of her imprisonment.[17][18]
From 1976 onwards Allende lived in Cuba.[2] In 1979 Dr. Alejandro Artucio, a representative for the International Commission of Jurists, made an appeal to the Chilean authorities for Allende to be allowed to return from exile.[12] Following a terminal cancer diagnosis, Allende died by suicide at the Hotel Riviera in Havana on the 23 May 1981.[19][20][21] Allende left a suicide note for Fidel Castro, expressing the difficulty of her physical condition and her great sorrow that she couldn't return to Chile.[20][21][22] On 25 May, the Committee for the Return of Exiles (Spanish: Comité Pro Retorno de Exiliados Chilenos) released a public statement.[23]
Upon her ashes returning to Chile, a Requiem for Allende's was held on the 28 May 1988 in Santiago.[24] On 28 August 1988, Allende was reinterred at the Allende family mausoleum in the Santiago General Cemetery.[2]