Hortensia Bussi

Mercedes Hortensia "Tencha" Bussi Soto (22 July 1914 – 18 June 2009), also known by her married name Hortensia Bussi de Allende, was a Chilean educator, librarian, activist and First Lady between 1970 and 1973. Following the 1973 coup d'état, Bussi lived in exile in Mexico. One of three siblings, Bussi grew up on an upper-class family. Initially working as a teacher, Bussi later worked as a librarian at the National Statistics Institute. In February 1953, the Allende Bussi family moved from there home in Santa Lucía Hill, to the . and in 1977 she stood as a candidate for Rector of the University of Glasgow, losing to the student John Bell.

Bussi returned to Chile in 1988 after 17 years in exile and led a quiet life.

Personal life Bussi was the sister-in-law of the politician Laura Allende, and was the aunt of Andrés Pascal Allende, a sociologist, former Secretary General to the MIR and a prominent member of the Chilean Resistance and Solidarity Movement, and Denise Pascal, a politician.

On 18 June 2009 Bussi died in Santiago, aged 94, and was buried at Santiago General Cemetery.