Juliana Awada

Juliana Awada
First Lady of Argentina
Incumbent
Assumed office December 10, 2015
Preceded by	Néstor Kirchner as First Gentleman
First Lady of Buenos Aires
In role November 16, 2010 – December 10, 2015
Preceded by	Eva Píccolo
Succeeded by	Bárbara Diez
Personal details
Born	María Juliana Awada 3 April 1974 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Political party	Republican Proposal
Spouse(s)	Gustavo Capello (m. 1997; div. 1998) Mauricio Macri (m. 2010)
Domestic partner	Count Bruno Laurent Barbier (2000–2008)
Relations	Alejandro Awada (brother)
Children	Valentina Barbier Antonia Macri
Occupation	Businesswoman

Juliana Awada (Spanish pronunciation: [xuˈljana aˈwaða]; born 3 April 1974) (Arabic: جوليانا عواضة) is an Argentine businesswoman of Lebanese and Syrian descent. She is the current First Lady of Argentina, married to the 53rd President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri.^[1]

Background

Awada was born in Buenos Aires on 3 April 1974, the daughter of Ibrahim Awada, a Lebanese Muslim immigrant native of Baalbek, and Elsa Esther "Pomi" Baker, of Syrian descent.^[2] She is the sister of entrepreneurs Zoraida and Daniel Awada, artist Leila Awada, and actor Alejandro Awada.

During her childhood and adolescence, she repeatedly traveled with her mother to Europe and the United States, mainly to Paris, London and New York, looking for fashion collections. After completing her secondary education at a bilingual English school in Belgrano, the now defunct Chester College, she honed her knowledge of that language in the city of Oxford, England.^[3]

As soon as she returned to Argentina, she was actively involved in the family business, a textile company set up by her father in the 1960s.^[4] In 1997, she married with Gustavo Capello, who would divorce one year later. Later, she would enter into a relationship with the Belgian Count Bruno Barbier Laurent, whom she had met on a flight of Air France. Despite having lived together for almost ten years, they never married, but had a daughter named Valentina.^[5]

First Lady of Buenos Aires

Awada and Mauricio Macri began a relationship in 2009. They wed on 16 November 2010^[6] and have one daughter, Antonia born in 2011.^[7] In an interview with La Nación newspaper in 2012, she stated that her father is a Liberal Muslim who did not object to one of Juliana's sisters marrying a Christian and the other a Jew.^[2]

First Lady of Argentina

In the 2015 presidential elections held on October 25, Mauricio Macri, candidate of the alliance Cambiemos (Let's Change), formed by the Republican Proposal, the Radical Civic Union and the Civic Coalition ARI, came second with 34.33 % of the vote, while the candidate of the Front for Victory, Daniel Scioli, it outstripped by little difference. In a historic ballotage, the first to be held in Argentina, Mauricio Macri won with 51.34 % of the votes, becoming the successor of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and Awada consequently, in the First Lady of Argentina.^[8]

On December 10, 2015, Awada accompanied her husband during his inauguration as President. The ceremony starting from their apartment in the neighborhood of Recoleta at the corner of Avenida del Libertador and Cavia at 11:00am to the National Congress of Argentina where Macri delivered a speech of 27 minutes. Later they went to the Casa Rosada, where Macri received the presidential attributes in the White Hall of the Casa Rosada.^[9][10] After being anointed President, she and her husband gave a reception at the San Martín Palace of Argentina Foreign Ministry to all the heads of state present: Michelle Bachelet from Chile, Horacio Cartes from Paraguay, Juan Manuel Santos from Colombia, Rafael Correa from Ecuador, Evo Morales from Bolivia, Dilma Rousseff from Brazil, and representatives of other countries attending the inauguration.^[11]

Awada alongside the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama and her daughter Valentina.

Awada made her first international trip as First Lady of Argentina to Davos, Switzerland to accompany her husband during the 2016 World Economic Forum. She and her husband met with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, in a meeting that lasted about 30 minutes. At the meeting, there was a commitment to relaunch the bilateral relationship and to expand flights between the two countries.^[12][13]

On February 27, 2016 she met with Pope Francis at the Vatican City where she and her husband, President Macri were invited. It was the second time Awada met with the Pope, the first was in 2013 when she was the First Lady of Buenos Aires.^[14][15] The next day she attended a meeting between her husband and the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace in Rome.^[16]

On March 23, 2016 she gave her first speech at the Metropolitan Design Center (CMD) of the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Barracas, where she presented her counterpart Michelle Obama. Both First Ladies gave a talk to teens to raise awareness about the importance of education. This speech was held during the official visit made by the Obama family to Argentina on 23 - 24 March 2016, where they also visited the city of Bariloche, in the Argentine Patagonia.^[17][18][19]

Buenos Aires Governor María Eugenia Vidal confirmed that the First Lady is her personal advisor regarding her wardrobe. Awada and President Mauricio Macri alongside her daughters Antonia and Valentina lives in the Presidential Residence of Quinta de Olivos.^[20]

Public image and style

In 2016 she was named one of the "best dressed" women in the world according to Vogue magazine. Comparing her current style with other famous First Ladies as Jacqueline Kennedy, Michelle Obama, or her compatriot Eva Peron.^[21] Vogue Spain prepared a special issue for April issue with a particular coverage on Argentine fashion, Awada which was the main protagonist. The interview was conducted in the middle of what was BAFWEEK. The production was done in the Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires. Awada chose to wear national and spanish designs.^[22][23]

References

1. "Casamiento de Macri y Awada" (in Spanish). Hola. 16 November 2010.
2. "Padres de Juliana Awada" (in Spanish). La Nacion. 1 April 2012.
3. Ventura, Any (1 April 2012). "Juliana Awada: "Yo me visto para mi"" (in Spanish). La Nación.
4. "Juliana Awada hablando de su vida" (in Spanish). Clarin. 29 January 2012.
5. "Juliana Awada: la Primera Dama porteña, educada para sonreír" (in Spanish). Clarin.
6. "Mauricio Macri y Juliana Awada dieron el Si" (in Spanish). Hola. 16 November 2010.
7. "Nacio la hija de Mauricio Macri" (in Spanish). Clarin. 10 November 2011.
8. "Balotaje: terminó el escrutinio definitivo y Macri ganó por una menor ventaja". minutouno. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
9. "Macri, desde el balcón de la Rosada: "Los argentinos merecíamos vivir mejor"". Clarin. 10 December 2015.
10. "Las 20 frases del discurso de Macri durante la asunción como presidente". Clarin. 10 December 2015.
11. "Tras asumir la presidencia, Macri se reúne con las delegaciones extranjeras en el Palacio San Martín". La Nacion. 10 December 2015.
12. "Look Juliana Awada: el primer viaje de la primera dama". Clarín. 22 January 2016.
13. "Juliana Awada y Máxima Zorreguieta, las argentinas que deslumbraron en Davos: mirá sus looks". Ratingcero. 21 January 2016.
14. "Juliana Awada con look protocolar en su visita al Papa" (in Spanish). La Nación. 27 February 2016.
15. "Juliana Awada y la curiosa recriminación de Francisco" (in Spanish). Caras. 27 February 2016.
16. "El diario de viaje de Juliana Awada y Mauricio Macri a Italia" (in Spanish). Caras. 27 February 2016.
17. "The Latest: Argentina's president sees Obama off". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Associated Press. March 24, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
18. Chambers, Francesca (March 24, 2016). "Two Air Force Ones for Obama to go hiking: Defiant president flies to the mountains on a second jet to end his baseball, dancing and dominoes Latin American tour - despite the Brussels bombs". Daily Mail. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
19. Boyer, Dave (March 25, 2016). "Obama brings two fuel-guzzlers to serve as Air Force One in Argentina". The Washington Times. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
20. "María Eugenia Vidal tiene una vestuarista de lujo: Juliana Awada" (in Spanish). La Nación. 12 March 2016.
22. "Juliana Awada posa en Vogue España para una edición especial" (in Spanish). La Nacion. 7 March 2016.
23. "Juliana Awada será tapa de la revista Vogue en España" (in Spanish). Clarin. 7 March 2016.