# First Lady of Paraguay

First Lady of Paraguay (Spanish: Primera Dama de Paraguay), also called First Lady of the Nation (Spanish: Primera Dama de la Nación), is the official post of the wife (or designated person) of the president of Paraguay. The official workplace of the Paraguayan first lady is Mburuvicha Róga. The current first lady of Paraguay is Leticia Ocampos, wife of President Santiago Peña.

## Structure

According to Paraguayan law, the Office of the First Lady of the Nation depends structurally and financially on the presidency of the republic. The first lady exercises her duties through the REPADEH (Red Paraguaya para el Desarrollo Humano) Foundation, focused mainly in social and health affairs.
With the exception of a 14-month period between 2012–2013, Paraguay did not have a president's wife as First Lady for a decade, between 2008 and 2018. As Fernando Lugo, who was elected President in 2008, was unmarried, he designated his elder sister, Mercedes Lugo, as First Lady. After Lugo was impeached and succeeded by Federico Franco, Franco's wife Emilia Alfaro de Franco assumed the post; however, Franco's successor, Horacio Cartes, one day after assuming the presidency, ended the title of First Lady instead of handing it to his estranged wife, María Montaña de Cartes.

## Partial list of first ladies

| First Lady | Tenure begins | Tenure ends | President of Paraguay |
| Juana Pabla Carrillo [es] | 1844 | 1862 | Carlos Antonio López |
| Eliza Lynch | 1862 | 1869 | Francisco Solano López |
| Clara Recalde | 1870 | 1870 | Facundo Machaín |
| Vacant | 1870 | 1871 | Cirilo Antonio Rivarola |
| Ercilia Bogado | 1871 | 1874 | Salvador Jovellanos |
| María Concepción Díaz de Bedoya | 1874 | 1877 | Juan Bautista Gill |
| Etelvina Trinidad Mercedes Velilla | 1877 | 1878 | Higinio Uriarte |
| Atanasia Escato | 1878 | 1880 | Cándido Bareiro |
| María Concepción Díaz de Bedoya | 1880 | 1886 | Bernardino Caballero |
| Ramona Ignacia Garcete | 1886 | 1890 | Patricio Escobar |
| Rosa Peña Guanes | 1890 | 1894 | Juan Gualberto González |
| Ramona Bareiro Caballero | 1894 | 1894 | Marcos Morínigo |
| Casiana Isasi | 1894 | 1898 | Juan Bautista Egusquiza |
| Josefina Rivarola | 1898 | 1902 | Emilio Aceval |
| Margarita Salomoni | 1902 | 1902 | Andrés Héctor Carvallo |
| Josefa Rojas | 1902 | 1904 | Juan Antonio Escurra |
| Regina Corti Onetto | 1904 | 1905 | Juan Bautista Gaona |
| Marcelina Allende | 1905 | 1906 | Cecilio Báez |
| María del Carmen de la Mora Isasi | 1906 – 1908 | 1908 | Benigno Ferreira |
| Adela da Fontoura Lima | 1908 | 1910 | Emiliano González Navero |
| Emilia Victoria Alfaro | 1910 | 1911 | Manuel Gondra |
| Vacant | August 15, 1916 | June 5, 1919 | Manuel Franco {unmarried) |
| Silvia Ester Heisecke | August 16, 1937 | August 15, 1939 | Félix Paiva |
| Julia Miranda Cueto | August 15, 1939 | September 7, 1940 | José Félix Estigarribia |
| Dolores Ferrari | September 7, 1940 | June 3, 1948 | Higinio Morínigo |
| Escolástica Patiño (deceased prior to presidency) | September 11, 1949 | May 8, 1954 | Federico Chávez (widowed) |
| Lilia Isabel Arza | May 4, 1954 | August 15, 1954 | Tomás Romero Pereira |
| Ligia Stroessner [es] | August 15, 1954 | February 3, 1989 | Alfredo Stroessner |
| Nélida Reig Castellanos | February 3, 1989 | August 15, 1993 | Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti |
| María Teresa Carrasco | August 15, 1993 | August 15, 1998 | Juan Carlos Wasmosy |
| Mirtha Leonor Gusinky | August 15, 1998 | March 29, 1999 | Raúl Cubas Grau |
| Susana Galli Romañach | March 29, 1999 | August 15, 2003 | Luis Ángel González Macchi |
| Gloria Penayo | August 15, 2003 | August 15, 2008 | Nicanor Duarte Frutos |
| Vacant | August 15, 2008 | June 22, 2012 | Fernando Lugo |
| Emilia Alfaro | June 22, 2012 | August 15, 2013 | Federico Franco |
| Vacant | August 15, 2013 | August 15, 2018 | Horacio Cartes |
| Silvana López Moreira | August 15, 2018 | August 15, 2023 | Mario Abdo Benítez |
| Leticia Ocampos | August 15, 2023 | Present | Santiago Peña |