Carmen Romero Rubio

Personal

Vocation

Notable

Family

Mexican First Lady, as the second wife of General Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico. A year and a half after the death of Delfina Ortega (1845-1880), first wife of Porfirio Díaz, Carmen Romero Rubio married Díaz on 5 November 1881. Rubio Romero served as First Lady for three decades, from when Diaz took office on 1 December 1884 until his resignation on 25 May 1911. Romero Rubio modelled her activities as First Lady on the traditional role of rulers' wives. In Mexico, the Spanish vicereine had long been the patron of religious and social affairs, and this role had been expanded by empress Carlota during her brief reign, to include the protection of the arts and the encouragement of social reforms. Carmen expanded on this, accompanying Díaz at public events. Her copious correspondence was managed by a special department of the President's office and she helped to host visiting personages. She attended religious, civic, and cultural events. Working with the wives of cabinet members, governors, and regional oligarchs, she formed and chaired relief committees responding to natural disasters. Her work on behalf of the children of working class women in the nation's capital established a number of day care centres, schools, and benevolent associations, including "La Casa Amiga de la Obrera" founded in 1887. She also saw to the upbringing of Díaz's children, arranging marriages to prominent families. Carmelita accompanied her husband in his exile to France in 1911. They lived in Paris in rented apartments, never buying a home, frequently moving and travelling. They toured Europe and visited Egypt. After the general's death in 1915, Carmen remained in France for nearly two decades, living from investments in Mexican oil companies and rental income. She played an important role in the rituals of the Mexican colony in Paris, organizing memorial masses for Díaz and for the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Carmelita spent much of her time travelling around France and Spain, and frequently summered at her stepson Porfirio's chateau de Moulins, close to Landes-le-Gaulois. Carmen returned to Mexico in 1934, accompanied by her sister Chofa aboard the French steamer "Mexique." She resided for some time in Mexico City's Colonia Roma, at no. 20 Tonalá Street, in a home that belonged to her niece Teresa Castelló. On 25 June 1944, Carmen Romero Rubio y Castelló died in Mexico City at eighty years of age. Link to Wikipedia biography