Marcela Tedeschi de Araújo Temer (born 16 May 1983) is the wife of Michel Temer, the 37th President of Brazil, She served as the 36th First Lady of Brazil, from 31 August 2016 until 1 January 2019. She also served as the Second Lady of Brazil from 2011 to 2016. As first lady, she worked on social policies for children, having been an Ambassador for the Happy Child Program.[1]

Marcela Temer
Temer in 2016
First Lady of Brazil
In role
31 August 2016 – 1 January 2019
PresidentMichel Temer
Preceded byMarisa Letícia Lula da Silva
Succeeded byMichelle Bolsonaro
Second Lady of Brazil
In role
1 January 2011 – 31 August 2016
Vice PresidentMichel Temer
Preceded byMariza Gomes
Succeeded byPaula Mourão
Personal details
Born
Marcela Tedeschi de Araújo

(1983-05-16) 16 May 1983 (age 41)
Paulínia, São Paulo, Brazil
Political partyMDB
Spouse
(m. 2003)
ChildrenMichel (b. 2009)
Alma materFADISP

Marcela was born and raised in Paulínia. She graduated from the Autonomous Faculty of Law (FADISP).[2] She was Miss Paulínia and Vice-Miss São Paulo.[3]

Early life

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Marcela Tedeschi Araújo was born on 16 May 1983 in Paulínia, São Paulo, to Carlos Antônio de Araújo and Norma Tedeschi. After graduating from the Escola Estadual Porphyrio da Paz, in her native Paulínia, Marcela worked as a receptionist for the newspaper O Momento. In 2002, at the age of nineteen, she won the title of Miss Paulínia, then moving on to share the state title as Miss São Paulo.[4][5]

Public life

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Marcela with Queen Silvia of Sweden in the Itamaraty Palace, Brasília, April 2017

In 2003, she married Michel Temer, with whom she has a son, Michel Filho.[6]

In 2002, Marcela accompanied her uncle Geraldo, a Paulínia municipal employee, to the annual political convention of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). While there, Marcela met Michel Temer, a politician forty-three years her senior.[7] The couple married on 26 July 2003, in a small ceremony.[8]

In 2009, Marcela graduated with a law degree from Fadisp, a private school in São Paulo. In an interview, Marcela says that she never took the licensing exam because of the birth of the couple's son Michel (often referred to by his nickname "Michelzinho").[9][10]

In the 2011 presidential inauguration, she drew national and international attention for her beauty and 43 year age difference with her husband, which had led her throughout his terms as vice president to remain reserved and out of the spotlight until Michel became president, when she took charge of social causes.[11]

Controversies

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Michel and Marcela Temer attend the 2016 BRICS summit in Goa, India

On 12 May 2016, Brazilian police arrested three people for attempting to extort money from Marcela after they hacked her personal Internet account.[12]

The Brazilian weekly magazine Veja featured a profile of Marcela Temer in their 18 April 2016 issue.[13] The title, "Bela, recatada, e do lar'" (translated as "beautiful, demure, and a housewife") portrayed Marcela as a feminine helpmate. Almost immediately, Brazilian feminists, outraged by the transition from the country's first female president Dilma Rousseff to a more conservative government, responded on social media by posting memes of themselves that questioned Marcela as a role model for Brazilian womanhood.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Marcela Temer apresenta programa Criança Feliz para estrangeiros".
  2. ^ "Marcela Tedeschi A".
  3. ^ "Conheça um pouco da vice-primeira-dama Marcela Temer e da irmã Fernanda Tedeschi". 23 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Conheça um pouco da vice-primeira-dama Marcela Temer e da irmã Fernanda Tedeschi". Extra – Famosos. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Paulínia torce por Marcela na Alvorada". Estadão. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Para Marcela Temer, diferença de idade para o marido não importa - Política". Archived from the original on 25 February 2018.
  7. ^ Linhares, Juliana. "Marcela Temer: bela, recatada e "do lar" | VEJA.com". VEJA.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Foi uma atração forte". IstoÉ Gente. 11 August 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Para Marcela Temer, diferença de idade para o marido não importa". Estadão. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  10. ^ "Entenda a polêmica após matéria com perfil de Marcela Temer". Diário Catarinense. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Temer quer mulher longe dos holofotes". 4 January 2011.
  12. ^ "Hacker Arrested for Attempted Extortion of Brazil Interim President's Wife". The New York Times. Reuters. 12 May 2016. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  13. ^ Linhares, Juliana. "Marcela Temer: bela, recatada e "do lar" | VEJA.com". VEJA.com. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  14. ^ Sims, Shannon. "The Hilarious Feminist Backlash To Brazil's Impeachment Fallout". Forbes. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
Honorary titles
Preceded by Second Lady of Brazil
2011–2016
Vacant
Title next held by
Paula Mourão
Vacant
Title last held by
Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva
First Lady of Brazil
2016–2019
Succeeded by