Hope Portocarrero Explained

Office:First Lady of Nicaragua
President:Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Term Start:1 December 1974
Term End:17 July 1979
Term Label:In Role
Predecessor:Vacant
Successor:Maria Luisa Muñoz
President1:Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Term Start1:1 May 1967
Term End1:1 May 1972
Term Label1:In Role
Predecessor1:Carmen Reñazco (1966)
Successor1:Vacant
Hope Portocarrero
Birth Date:28 June 1929
Birth Place:Tampa, Florida, United States
Death Place:Miami, Florida, United States
Alma Mater:Barnard College (1950)
Occupation:First Lady of Nicaragua
Spouse:Anastasio Somoza Debayle
Archie Angelo Baldocchi
Parents:Nestor Portocarrero Gross (father)
Blanca Debayle Sacasa de Portocarrero (mother)
Children:Anastasio, Julio, Carolina, Carla, and Roberto

Hope Portocarrero, also known as Madame Somoza and Hope Somoza Baldocchi later in life,[1] (June 28, 1929 – 5 October 1991) was the wife of president of Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza Debayle and, beginning in 1967, First Lady of Nicaragua for a time. In 1968 she was named to the International Best Dressed List.[2] She was the mother of Anastasio Somoza Portocarrero and four other children.

Early life

Born in 1929 in Tampa, Florida, Hope Portocarrero was the daughter of Dr. Nestor Portocarrero Gross and Blanca DeBayle Sacasa de Portocarrero. She had one brother, Nestor.

She was of Spanish, French,German, Honduran and Nicaraguan descent. Her grandfather was Dr. Louis Henri DeBayle Pallais, and married to Casimira Sacasa Sacasa. He was a good friend of Rubén Darío. Her maternal great-grandfather was Roberto Sacasa Sarria, former President of Nicaragua. The DeBayles and Portocarreros were among Nicaragua's wealthiest families.

She spoke fluent English, Italian, Spanish, and French and had an appreciation for art and culture. After 1943, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she often spent time with her cousin Lillian Sevilla-Sacasa (née Somoza). She attended Barnard College of Columbia University and was in the class of 1950.[3] Portocarrero spent the summer of 1949 traveling in Europe accompanied by her mother.

Marriage

Portocarrero and her cousin Anastasio Somoza Debayle were married on 10 December 1950 in Managua's Cathedral by Archbishop José Antonio Lezcano. Over 4,000 guests attended the ceremony. The reception was given by her father-in-law, President Anastasio Somoza García, in the luxurious and modern Palacio de Comunicaciones. The couple traveled to South America for their honeymoon.

The Somozas had five children: Anastasio, Julio, Carolina, Carla, and Roberto Somoza Portocarrero. Her daughter, Carolina, is married to James Minskoff Sterling, son of New York real estate developer Henry H. Minskoff and his wife.[4]

First Lady of Nicaragua

When her husband became president of Nicaragua in 1967, Portocarrero became the First Lady. She was covered in the media for her fashionable wardrobe. During her husband's time in office, she served as a hostess for many state visits, among them U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

Somoza was also president of the Spanish; Castilian: Junta Nacional de Asistencia y Previsión Social (National Social Security). She created the National Cultural Center, the General Archives of the National Library, National Conservatory of Music, National School of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes), National Museum, and Plurar Gallery. Her biggest legacies were the construction of Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío (The National Theater of Nicaragua), the Children's Hospital, a clinic for Nicaraguan women, and a Center for Orphans, known as "The Hope".

Final years

Due to continuing marital strife, her husband Anastasio began a relationship with a mistress, Dinorah Sampson. Portocarrero later relocated to London. Since the couple were Catholic, she never divorced Somoza. A year after he died, she married Archie Baldocchi, a wealthy American businessman. She died of cancer in Miami, Florida on 5 October 1991.

References

External links

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Hope Somoza Baldocchi, wife of former Nicaraguan leader . . 1991-10-09 . 2022-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220628202548/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1991/10/09/hope-somoza-baldocchi-wife-of-former-nicaraguan-leader/ . 2022-06-28 . live.
  2. Book: World Clothing and Fashion: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Social Influence . 9781317451662 . Snodgrass . Mary Ellen . 17 March 2015 . Routledge .
  3. Web site: Barnard Alumnae Magazine, Fall 1966 Barnard Digital Collections. 2020-07-05. digitalcollections.barnard.edu.
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/16/style/miss-somoza-wed-to-dr-j-m-sterling.html "Miss Somoza Wed to Dr. J. M. Sterling"