Nydia Quintero Turbay (born 28 August 1932) is a Colombian community organizer

Community organizing

Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. A core goal of community organizing is to generate durable power for an organization representing the community, allowing it to influence...

 and philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

, President of Fundación Solidaridad por Colombia, a nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 dedicated to improving the condition of impoverished Colombian families through educational and nutritional programs for children, the disabled and the poor. A former First Lady

First Lady

First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...

 of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 between 1978 and 1982, she was married to former President of Colombia

President of Colombia

The President of Colombia is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was part of "la Gran Colombia"...

 Julio César Turbay Quintero

Julio César Turbay Quintero

Julio César Turbay Quintero is a Colombian lawyer and politician. A Liberal party politician, he served as the 33rd Comptroller General of Colombia, Senator and Chamber Representative, as well as Deputy to the Cundinamarca Departamental Assembly, and Councilmember to various Municipal Councils in...

.

Personal life

She was born on 28 August 1932 in Neiva, Huila to Jorge Quintero Céspedes and Adhalía Turbay Ayala. Lebanese

Lebanese diaspora

Lebanese diaspora refers to Lebanese migrants and their descendants who by choice or coercion emigrated from Lebanon and now reside in other countries....

 and Basque descent

Basque diaspora

The Basque diaspora is the name given to describe people of Basque origin living outside their traditional homeland on the borders between Spain and France...

. She attended La Presentación in Neiva where she lived until the death of her father when she moved to Bogotá to study at the Liceo Nacional Femenino Antonia Santos. On 18 May 1948, against the wishes of her family, she married her maternal uncle Julio César Turbay Ayala

Julio César Turbay Ayala

Julio César Turbay Ayala was a Colombian politician, member of the Colombian Liberal Party, elected president of the Senate of Colombia and and, was president of Colombia from 1978 to 1982.- Biographic data :...

 in a clandestine wedding in a Roman Catholic ceremony at Santa Teresita Church in Bogotá. From their marriage they had four children, Julio César

Julio César Turbay Quintero

Julio César Turbay Quintero is a Colombian lawyer and politician. A Liberal party politician, he served as the 33rd Comptroller General of Colombia, Senator and Chamber Representative, as well as Deputy to the Cundinamarca Departamental Assembly, and Councilmember to various Municipal Councils in...

, Diana Consuelo, Claudia

Claudia Turbay Quintero

Claudia Turbay Quintero is a Colombian journalist and diplomat. She currently serves as Ambassador of Colombia to Switzerland, with dual accreditation as Non-Resident Ambassador to Lichtenstein...

, and María Victoria. She divorced her husband in 1983 after his term as President of Colombia and hers as First Lady had ended, and remarried the following year in 1984 to Gustavo Balcázar Monzón

Gustavo Balcázar Monzón

Gustavo Balcázar Monzón is a Colombian lawyer and retired politician. A member of the Colombian Liberal Party, he served as Member of both the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, presiding over both chambers of Congress...

, her marriage to former President Turbay Ayala was finally annulled

Annulment (Catholic Church)

In the Roman Catholic Church an annulment is the procedure, governed by the Church's Canon Law and the Catechism, whereby an ecclesial tribunal determines the sacrament of marriage was invalidly entered into. An annulment determines the Catholic marriage to be void at its inception...

 by the Catholic Church in 1986.