Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

While studying at the National University of La Plata she met Néstor Kirchner who she married in 1975. The couple had two children: Máximo and Florencia. Her husband died in 2010.

Cristina Elisabet Fernández was born on 19 February 1953 in La Plata, Argentina, to Eduardo Fernandez, a bus driver, and Ofelia Esther Wilhelm.

She studied law at the National University of La Plata during the 1970s. It was here that she met Néstor Kirchner who she would later marry in 1975. As a student she became a part of the Peronist Youth movement though she did not participate in any notable political activism.

The 1970s was a period of political chaos in Argentina. The then-president Isabel Peron was deposed by the 1976 Argentine coup d'état and the military junta seized control of Argentina. During this time Cristina Kirchner and her husband left La Plata for Río Gallegos where they worked as lawyers.

Democracy in Argentina was restored in 1983 and Cristina began her political career later the same decade. Kirchner was a provincial delegate to the Justicialist (Peronist) Party (PJ) convention in 1985. Her husband also became a successful politician during this time.

She was elected to the Santa Cruz Provincial Legislature in 1989, a position to which she was re-elected in 1993. She was elected to represent Santa Cruz in the Senate in 1995 and to the Chamber of Deputies in 1997. She returned to the Senate in 2001.

By this time Nestor Kirchner was very well established in his career and was aiming for presidency. Cristina helped in her husband’s presidency campaigns but without making public appearances. Her husband was successfully installed the President of Argentina in May 2003.

Cristina became the First Lady and also served as an itinerant ambassador for her husband’s government. She was often compared to former First Lady Eva Perón, second wife of former President Juan Perón due to her style of speech.

As the president she launched a universal child benefit plan in October 2009 as a way to fight poverty with the goal of reaching approximately five million children and youths. The program resulted in an increase in school attendance and helped to reduce poverty.