Carolina Isakson de Barco
Carolina Isakson de Barco | |
|---|---|
Isakson in 1987 | |
| First Lady of Colombia | |
| In role August 7, 1986 – August 7, 1990 | |
| President | Virgilio Barco Vargas |
| Preceded by | Rosa Álvarez de Betancur |
| Succeeded by | Ana Milena Muñoz de Gaviria |
| First Lady of Bogotá | |
| In role January 1, 1966 – December 31, 1969 | |
| Mayor | Virgilio Barco Vargas |
| Preceded by | Emma Villegas Puyana |
| Succeeded by | Margarita Vanegas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mary Caroline Isakson January 6, 1930 York, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | January 24, 2012 (aged 82) Bogotá, D.C., Colombia |
| Resting place | Central Cemetery of Bogotá |
| Citizenship | Colombian |
| Party | Liberal |
| Spouse | |
| Children | |
| Alma mater | Stanford University (BA, 1949) |
Carolina Isakson de Barco (born Mary Caroline Isakson, January 6, 1930 – January 14, 2012) was an American and Colombian artist and philanthropist who served as first lady of Colombia from 1986 to 1990 and previously as first lady of Bogotá from 1966 to 1969 as wife of Virgilio Barco Vargas. She is the second naturalized citizen to become first lady, the third first lady born abroad after Cecilia de la Fuente de Lleras (wife of Carlos Lleras Restrepo), the first and only Lutheran first lady and the second to have a profession after María Michelsen de López (wife of Alfonso López Pumarejo).
Mary Caroline Isakson was born in York, Pennsylvania, her family moved to Cúcuta, Norte de Santander when she was 7 years old. She changed the typing of her name to Carolina and adopted her mother's maiden name Proctor to adapt her name to the Spanish naming customs resulting in Carolina Isakson. At the age of 14 she moved to Palo Alto, California to attend the Castilleja School where she would finish high school. She would later finish her Latin American Studies at Stanford University and obtain a master's degree in Spanish at Boston University.
Carolina and Virgilio met through Virgilio's sister Edelmira who was Carolina's schoolmate. She supported and accompanied her husband during the 1986 presidential campaign.