Lucía Hiriart

María Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez (10 December 1923 – 16 December 2021), also known as Lucía Hiriart de Pinochet, was married to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Hiriart and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.

Lucía Hiriart
Hiriart in 2007
First Lady of Chile
In role
17 December 1974 – 11 March 1990
PresidentAugusto Pinochet
Preceded byHortensia Bussi
Succeeded byLeonor Oyarzún
Personal details
Born
María Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez

(1923-12-10)10 December 1923
Antofagasta, Chile
Died16 December 2021(2021-12-16) (aged 98)
Santiago, Chile
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1943; died 2006)​
Children5, including Inés Lucía Pinochet

Early life and education
Lucía Hiriart and Augusto Pinochet

Hiriart was born into a wealthy family in Antofagasta, on 10 December 1923[1][2] to Osvaldo Hiriart Corvalán, a lawyer, former Radical Party senator, and former Interior Minister of president Juan Antonio Ríos; and Lucía Rodríguez Auda de Hiriart, of Basque French descent.[3]

Lucía Hiriart and members of her family at the funeral of her husband Augusto Pinochet on 12 December 2006.

In 2005, Hiriart was sued by Chile's Internal Tax Service (Servicio de Impuestos Internos) over tax evasion totaling US$2.35 million and was arrested with her son Marco Antonio a few months later. In October 2007, she was arrested again in the frame of the Riggs Bank case, along with Pinochet's five children and 17 other people (including two generals, one of his former lawyers and his former secretary) on charges of embezzlement and use of false passports. They were accused of having illegally transferred $27m (£13.2m) to foreign bank accounts during Pinochet's rule.[4][5]

In August 2016, Hiriart was accused of using funds from her NGO, CEMA Chile. During Pinochet's time under house arrest in London, two separate transfers were made from Chile to herself, in 1998 and 1999. Each transfer was totaled to be $50,000. According to the prosecutors, the money was used to pay for Pinochet's living expenses.[6] Hiriart was sued by two Communist Party lawmakers from Chile, Hugo Gutierrez and Karol Cariola, along with the Relatives of Disappeared Detainees Group (AFDD) for misuse of public assets owned by CEMA Chile for misappropriation of public assets, tax fraud, and embezzlement. CEMA Chile is accused of illegally acquiring more than 30 properties for more than $18 million. During the investigation, Hiriart resigned following a news report from November 2015 stating that she had used sales and rentals of public lands from CEMA Chile for her own benefit.[7]

Personal life and death

On 30 January 1943, Hiriart married Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, then a Chilean Army Infantry School lieutenant. They had five children – three daughters (Inés Lucía, María Verónica, and Jacqueline Marie) and two sons (Augusto Osvaldo and Marco Antonio).

On 30 December 2018, Hiriart was hospitalized after falling at her home in Santiago and fracturing her arm and several ribs.[8]

Hiriart died from heart failure in Santiago on 16 December 2021, at the age of 98.[1][9][10]

Hiriart was portrayed by Gloria Münchmeyer in the 2023 black comedy horror film El Conde directed by Pablo Larrain.[11]

References
  1. "Certificado de defunción establece causa de muerte de Lucía Hiriart e indica que falleció a los 98". CNN Chile (in Spanish). 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. Vega Lopez, Fernando (2013). La familia: Historia privada de la familia Pinochet (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Santiago de Chile: Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. p. 9. ISBN 9789568410926. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. Legarraga, Patricio; Chabagno, Albert. "Los Hiriart de la casa Beaulieu en Macaye". Revista de Estudios Históricos del Instituto Chileno de Investigaciones Genealógicas (43): 25–85.
  4. Pinochet family arrested in Chile, BBC, 4 October 2007 (in English)
  5. Cobertura Especial: Detienen a familia y principales colaboradores de Pinochet Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, La Tercera, 4 October 2007 (in Spanish)
  6. Franklin, Jonathan (19 August 2016). "Pinochet's widow under investigation on suspicion of swindling millions". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  7. "Communist lawmakers file suit against Pinochet widow for fraud". Fox News Latino. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  8. "Lucía Hiriart sufrió accidente casero y fue internada en el Hospital Militar" (in Spanish). Cooperativa. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  9. Cambero, Fabian (16 December 2021). "Lucia Hiriart, widow of Chilean dictator Pinochet, dies aged 99". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  10. "Lucía Hiriart obituary". The Times. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  11. "Pablo Larraín y Netflix preparan "El Conde", una sátira sobre un Pinochet vampiro". www.ambito.com. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
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