Susana Higuchi

Susana Shizuko Higuchi Miyagawa (26 April 1950 – 8 December 2021) was a Peruvian politician and engineer. She served as First Lady of Peru from 1990 to 1994 as the wife of president Alberto Fujimori. In 1994, she described her husband as a "corrupt tyrant" and divorced him in 1995. She was replaced as First Lady by their daughter, future president Keiko Fujimori.

Higuchi was elected as a member of the Independent Moralizing Front (Frente Independiente Moralizador, FIM), a reformist political party allied with then president Alejandro Toledo, in both the 2000 and 2001 general elections. She served as a member of Congress for two terms from 2000 to 2006.

Early life Of Japanese descent, Higuchi was born in Lima, Peru. She attended Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria specializing in hydraulics, working for the El Sol tire company and established her family in La Victoria District, Lima. Higuchi was often viewed as being independent and outspoken, initiating the first steps of her relationship with Alberto Fujimori despite the disagreement of her parents. Fujimori denied that Higuchi had been tortured. He said the scars on her back and neck were not caused by torture, but were the result of the traditional Chinese and Japanese therapy moxibustion, which Higuchi underwent to help her stop smoking and to relieve back troubles.

In July 2001, she alleged that in 1990, shortly before coming to power, her ex-husband received a donation of US$12.5 million from Japanese citizens destined for poor children in Peru, but he deposited it in a private bank account in Japan.

Personal life Higuchi married Alberto Fujimori on 25 July 1974 They have four children: Keiko Sofía, Hiro Alberto, Sachi Marcela, and Kenji Gerardo. Higuchi died of cancer in 2021. In 2026, Keiko was elected Peru's first female president.

Higuchi was a Catholic.