Anne Malherbe Gosselin

Anne Malherbe Gosselin
Anne Malherbe Gosselin
	Malherbe Gosselin in 2017
First Lady of Ecuador
	In role; January 15, 2007 – May 24, 2017
President	Rafael Correa
Preceded by	María Beatriz Paret
Succeeded by	Rocío González Navas
Personal details
Born	Anne Malherbe; December 16, 1968 (age 55); Namur, Belgium
Spouse	Rafael Correa (m. 1992)
Children	Sofía; Anne Dominique; Rafael Miguel;
Alma mater	University of Louvain
Occupation	Teacher

Anne Malherbe Gosselin (born Anne Malherbe on December 16, 1968) is a Belgian-Ecuadorian teacher who served as First Lady of Ecuador from 15 January 2007 to 24 May 2017, as the wife of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. She was born in Namur, Belgium, and is the daughter of Paul Malherbe and Chantal Gosselin.^[1] She met Correa while both were attending courses in the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Belgium. They later married and, during Correa's presidency, moved to Ecuador. After the end of Correa's presidency, the couple moved to Belgium.^[2]

Owing to her and Correa's beliefs that "there should not be a first lady, as all citizens, men and women, are the same" in a socialist society, Malherbe was never presented or referred to as First Lady of Ecuador. The duties of the First Lady were at first transferred to the Patronato San José, and subsequently to the Ministry of Social Inclusion.

Public statements

After Correa's inauguration, Malherbe opted to keep a low public profile. During her first weeks in office, she stated that "we, women are all equal", asserting the value of women as individual persons rather than through the position of their husbands.^[3]

Her only notable public appearance while in office was on 31 July 2007, when she was interviewed by EFE and referred to the case of Ecuadorian child Angélica Loja Cajamarca, who had been detained at a migrant center in Belgium with her mother for not carrying a photo ID. Malherbe expressed shame and disgust at what her home country had done to Cajamarca, who was eleven years old at the time.^[4] She made no further appearances after this.

References

^ "Orígenes de Anne Malherbe, en la base de datos de Mauricio Alvarado-Dávila" (in Spanish). GeneaNet. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
^ "Ex-Ecuador president Correa denies planning coup attempt from exile". Reuters. 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
^ "¿Tenemos primera dama?" (in Spanish). Hoy. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
^ "La primera dama de Ecuador se avergüenza de ser belga" (in Spanish). Hoy. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

Honorary titles
Preceded by María Beatriz Paret	First Lady of Ecuador 2007–2017	Succeeded by Rocío González Navas

[1] "Orígenes de Anne Malherbe, en la base de datos de Mauricio Alvarado-Dávila" (in Spanish). GeneaNet. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

[2] "Ex-Ecuador president Correa denies planning coup attempt from exile". Reuters. 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-11-10.

[3] "¿Tenemos primera dama?" (in Spanish). Hoy. 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

[4] "La primera dama de Ecuador se avergüenza de ser belga" (in Spanish). Hoy. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

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