Josefina Villalobos | |
Office: | First Lady of Ecuador |
Term Label: | In role |
Term Start: | August 10, 1992 |
Term End: | August 10, 1996 |
Predecessor: | Carmen Calisto |
Successor: | María Rosa Pulley Vergara |
Birth Name: | Josefina Isabel Villalobos Páramo |
Birth Date: | August 5, 1924 |
Birth Place: | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Children: | 8 |
Nationality: | American Colombian Ecuadorian |
Josefina Isabel Villalobos Páramo (born August 5, 1924) is an American-born Colombian-Ecuadorian public servant. She was the First Lady of Ecuador serving from August 10, 1992, through August 10, 1996, when her husband, Sixto Durán Ballén, served as President of Ecuador.[1]
Villalobos was born in New York City to Colombian parents.[2] In 1945, she married Sixto Durán Ballén.[3]
As the first lady of the nation, Villalobos was known in the media and by the Ecuadorian people Finita de Durán-Ballén. When she became first lady, she played a vital role in the creation of the (INNFA).[4] She was known for hosting of Carondelet Palace and accompanying her husband in various trips nationally and internationally. Josefina was the first older lady to assume the role, since she was 68 years old when her husband won the presidency of the Republic in 1992.[5]
Ballén and Villalobos had eight children. After Ballén left office, the two retired and lived in Quito, Ecuador. On November 15, 2016, Ballén died at the age of 95.[6]