| Post: | First Lady |
| Body: | Puerto Rico |
| Style: | First Lady of Puerto Rico (diplomatic) The First Lady (third person) |
| Insignia: | Flag of Puerto Rico.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 100px |
| Incumbent: | Vacant |
| Incumbentsince: | January 2, 2021 |
| Formation: | 2 January 1949 |
| Website: | Official website |
First Lady or First Gentleman of Puerto Rico (Spanish; Castilian: Primera Dama o Primer Caballero de Puerto Rico) is the official title given by the government of Puerto Rico to the spouse of the governor of Puerto Rico or the relatives of the governor, should the holder be unmarried. The governor's spouse leads the Office of the First Lady or First Gentleman of Puerto Rico.
The role of first lady of Puerto Rico is vacant since the inauguration of Pedro Pierluisi on January 2, 2021.
The position of First Lady or First Gentleman carries no official duty and receives no compensation for their service. They generally oversee the administration of La Fortaleza, the mansion that serves as the governor's residence and office. They also organize events and civic programs, and typically get involved in different charities and social causes.
The official portraits of each first lady or first gentleman, beginning with Governor Jesús T. Piñero's wife, former first lady Aurelia Bou Ledesma, have been exhibited in La Fortaleza since Rafael Hernández Colón's administration. The portraits were originally located in the staircase that leads to the third floor private gubernatorial residence However, they have been relocated to several ceremonial rooms adjacent to the "Kennedy Bedroom" on the second floor of the executive mansion which is accessible to the public in most tours held at La Fortaleza.
First Lady Lucé Vela loaned the portraits to the Puerto Rico Department of State, to be seen by the public during two weeks in May 2009. The opening reception of the exhibit, presided by Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock, was attended by three governors (Luis Fortuño, Rafael Hernández Colón, and Carlos Romero Barceló), and four first ladies (Jeannette Ramos, Kate Donnelly, María Elena González, and Lucé Vela).
Most recently, a new official portrait of Lucé Vela was unveiled in La Fortaleza in July 2017.[1] Official portraits of former first lady Wilma Pastrana and her husband, former governor Alejandro García Padilla, both painted by the late artist Arnaldo Roche Rabell, were added to residence's collection in November 2016.[2]
| First Lady or First Gentleman | Governor | Date tenure began | Date tenure ended | Date of death (age) | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inés Mendoza | Luis Muñoz Marín | January 2, 1949 | January 2, 1965 | Mendoza was the second wife of Puerto Rico's first directly elected governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, whom she married in 1946. She remains the longest serving first lady in Puerto Rico's history. | |||
| 2 | Conchita Dapena | January 2, 1965 | 1967 | [3] | First Lady Conchita Dapena and Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella separated in March 1967 after his affair with his legislative aide, Jeannette Ramos Buonomo, became public.[4] [5] They had been married for 31 years before their divorce. Governor Sánchez Vilella's affair and divorce from First Lady Dapena is credited with ending his political career. | |||
| 3 | Jeannette Ramos | October 1967 | January 2, 1969 | November 24, 2021 (89) | Ramos is the daughter of Ernesto Ramos Antonini. A former legislative aide of Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella, Ramos' affair with the governor became public in March 1967 in a major political scandal. Governor Sanchez Vilella and Ramos married in a civil ceremony in Humacao, Puerto Rico, in October 1967, just two days after his divorce from former First Lady Conchita Dapena was finalized. This was Ramos' third marriage. Sánchez Vilella's affair and remarriage to Ramos effectively ended his political career and led to a split within his Popular Democratic Party. | |||
| 4 | Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano | Luis A. Ferré (father) | January 2, 1969 | March 5, 1970 | March 5, 1970 | First Lady Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano died in role on March 5, 1970. Their daughter, Rosario Ferré, fulfilled the duties of first lady for the remainder of her father's tenure.[6] [7] | ||
| 5 | Rosario Ferré | March 5, 1970 | January 2, 1973 | The daughter of the late First Lady Lorenza Ramírez de Arellano and Governor Luis Ferré, Rosario Ferré fulfilled the duties of the First Lady from 1970 to 1973 following the death of her mother. Ferré also began her graduate studies in literature during this time. She became an accomplished writer, poet, and essayist, with works published in both Spanish and English. | ||||
| 6 | Lila Mayoral Wirshing | Rafael Hernández Colón | January 2, 1973 | January 2, 1977 | Lila Mayoral's first tenure as first lady. | |||
| 7 | Kate Donnelly | Carlos Romero Barceló | January 2, 1977 | January 2, 1985 | Donnelly, also known as Kate Romero, who was born in Baldwin, New York, moved to Puerto Rico in 1961 to take a job at the First National City Bank in San Juan.[8] [9] She married Carlos Romero Barceló, a lawyer, in 1966. She focused on poverty alleviation, women's rights, and education, and advocated for statehood during her tenure. Donnelly also published a cookbook, "Cocinando desde La Fortaleza", in 1984. She was later appointed as a trustee of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico. | |||
| 8 | Lila Mayoral Wirshing | Rafael Hernández Colón | January 2, 1985 | January 2, 1993 | Mayoral's second tenure as first lady. In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo struck Puerto Rico. First Lady Mayoral organized a fundraiser which raised $15.6 million for reconstruction.[10] She also oversaw the construction of new hurricane shelters on the islands of Culebra and Vieques. | |||
| 9 | Maga Nevares de Rosselló | Pedro Rosselló | January 2, 1993 | January 2, 2001 | Living | Maga Nevares is also the mother of former Governor Ricardo Rosselló (2017–2019)[11] [12] | ||
| 10 | Adolfo Krans | Sila Calderón | January 2, 2001 | August 2001 | Living | Governor Sila María Calderón was married to Adolfo Krans, a businessman and insurance broker, when she took office in 2001. Krans and Calderón had campaigned together throughout the 2000 gubernatorial election. However, rumors of a potential split began circulating in political circles for several weeks. On Friday, August 17, 2001, Governor Calderón announced that she would seek a divorce to end the 23-year marriage.[13] Their divorce was finalized in November 2001.[14] | ||
| 10 (continued) | Sila María González Calderón and María Elena González Calderón | 2001 | September 10, 2003 | Governor Sila María Calderón appointed her daughters, Sila María González Calderón and María Elena González Calderón, to fulfill the duties of the first lady after her divorce. | ||||
| 10 (continued) | Ramón Cantero Frau and Sila María González Calderón and María Elena González Calderón | September 10, 2003 | January 2, 2005 | Ramón Cantero Frau had previously served as Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico within Governor Calderón's Cabinet from January 2001 until his resignation in December 2002.[15] In August 2003, Governor Calderón and Cantero announced their engagement.[16] [17] Calderón and Cantero Fray married on September 10, 2003, at a ceremony at La Fortaleza.[18] It was the third marriage for both Calderón and Cantero Frau. The couple divorced in 2005 after she left office. | ||||
| 11 | Luisa Gándara | Aníbal Acevedo Vilá | January 2, 2005 | January 2, 2009 | June 14, 2023 | Nicknamed Piti Gándara, she was elected as an at-large member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico in March 2013.[19] [20] Gándara served in the House as a member of the Popular Democratic Party (PPD) from 2013 to 2017. | ||
| 12 | Lucé Vela | Luis Fortuño | January 2, 2009 | January 2, 2013 | Living | Married to Fortuño since August 3, 1984[21] | ||
| 13 | Wilma Pastrana | Alejandro García Padilla | January 2, 2013 | January 2, 2017 | Living | Married to Alejandro García Padilla since April 7, 2001[22] | ||
| 14 | Beatriz Rosselló | Ricardo Rosselló | January 2, 2017 | August 2, 2019 | Living | Beatriz Rosselló's tenure as first lady ended on August 2, 2019, when Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned from office in the wake of the Telegramgate political scandal.[23] | ||
| – | Vacant | Pedro Pierluisi (De facto) | August 2, 2019 | August 7, 2019 | Pedro Pierluisi and his wife, María Elena Carrión, were undergoing a divorce at the time of his brief, five day tenure.[24] [25] When Pierluisi took office, he announced that there would be no first lady and that his administration would consider closing the Office of the First Lady.[26] The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico unanimously ruled that Pierluisi's inauguration was unconstitutional on August 7, 2019, and he vacated the office.[27] | |||
| 15 | Jorge Díaz Reverón | Wanda Vázquez Garced | August 7, 2019 | January 2, 2021 | Living | Jorge Díaz Reverón is a superior court judge in the city of Caguas, Puerto Rico.[28] [29] | ||
| – | Vacant | Pedro Pierluisi | January 2, 2021 | Present | Governor Pedro Pierluisi and his former wife, María Elena Carrión, are divorced. | |||