Alicia Pietri

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

Alicia Pietri
First Lady of Venezuela
In office 12 March 1969 – 12 March 1974
President	Rafael Caldera
Preceded by	Carmen América Fernández
Succeeded by	Blanca Rodríguez
In role 2 February 1994 – 2 February 1999
Preceded by	Ligia Betancourt
Succeeded by	Marisabel Rodríguez
Personal details
Born	Alicia Pietri Montemayor (1923-10-14)14 October 1923 Caracas, Venezuela
Died	9 February 2011(2011-02-09) (aged 87) Caracas, Venezuela
Political party	Copei
Spouse	Rafael Caldera
Children	6
Signature

Alicia Pietri Montemayor (14 October 1923 – 9 February 2011) was a public figure in Venezuela who twice served as First Lady of Venezuela (1969–1974 and 1994–1999) as the wife of Venezuelan president Rafael Caldera. She was the founder of the Children's Museum of Caracas. She served as president of the Children’s Foundation in Venezuela, and was also involved in other organizations dedicated to childcare.

First Lady (1969–1974)

Upon her husband's victory in the 1968 Venezuelan general election and her role as First Lady, she continued the work initiated by her predecessor, Carmen América Fernández Alcalá, in the presidency of the Children's Festival Foundation. She maintained and improved existing programs such as "Children's Day" and the "Song Festival" while introducing new initiatives. These included the "Vacation Plan", which rewarded the top-performing students from public schools during school holidays by taking them to explore different regions of the country. Other additions were the "Week of Art and Culture for Children", the "Pages for Imagination" editions, "Pocket Parks", and the educational television program "Sopotocientos", among others.

Alicia Pietri was a passionate advocate for children's recreation, which she strongly linked to a child's right to enjoy their childhood. She believed this right was even more crucial for underprivileged children because recreation helped to free their spirits from bitterness and resentment, which could be harmful not only to society but also to their well-being.

Among her achievements were the establishment of miniature baseball fields for children, the publication of a Braille version of Oscar Delepiani's cuatro (a Venezuelan musical instrument) manual, and the management of an extensive donation program from her Office of Social Welfare, located in the White Palace next to Miraflores Palace. This office handled an average of two thousand requests each month.

During that period, she held honorary presidencies in various organizations, including the Bolivarian Foundation, the Venezuelan Women's Association, the Elderly Protection Association, the Girl Guides Association of Venezuela, the American Home Foundation, the Youth Association of Venezuela, the Ladies' Committee of the Military Circle, and served as an honorary Raksha (Scout leader) for the Wolf Cubs Branch of the Scouts Association of Venezuela, among others.

Final years

At the end of her husband's second term on February 2, 1999, Alicia Pietri withdrew from public life and returned to her home in Tinajero, located in the Los Chorros neighborhood of Caracas. She continued to oversee the Children's Museum, gradually relinquishing control to her daughter, Mireya, due to the progressive advancement of Alzheimer's disease. She died in her home in the early hours of Wednesday, February 9, 2011. The National Assembly observed a minute of silence in her honor. Her son, Andrés, who bid farewell to her remains at her gravesite, expressed gratitude for the widespread and positive response from the Venezuelan community following her death: "It has been touching for us, and we want to publicly express our gratitude at this moment for the overwhelmingly positive and unanimous demonstration of our entire country, regardless of ideological positions, through all media and social strata upon her passing..."

Shy, discreet, and conservative, according to her close friends, she was not a first lady who enjoyed being in the media spotlight. Instead, she tirelessly advocated for the rights of the most underprivileged children," states the biographical review found in the book "200 Venezuelan Educators: 18th to 21st Centuries" (2016), published by the Empresas Polar Foundation and Andrés Bello Catholic University.

Personal life

Alicia Pietri Montemayor was born on October 14, 1923. She married Rafael Caldera on 6 August 1941. The couple had six children: Mireya, Rafael Tomás, Juan José, Alicia Helena, Cecilia and Andrés. Juan José Caldera (born 1948) became a politician. Her husband died on December 24, 2009, after struggling for several years with Parkinson’s Disease. She died in Caracas, Venezuela on February 9, 2011 at the age 87, of natural causes.

See also

• List of first ladies of Venezuela
• Children's Museum of Caracas