Lucía Topolansky

Lucía Topolansky Saavedra (born 25 September 1944) is a Uruguayan politician who served as a Senator from 2005 to 2017. Topolansky, who is the wife of former President José Mujica, was the First Lady of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. She is currently serving as Vice President of Uruguay starting from September 2017, after Raúl Fernando Sendic's resignation.

Background
During her childhood she studied in the College Sacré Cœur de las Hermanas Dominicas in Montevideo with her twin sister. She then entered the Instituto Alfredo Vásquez Acevedo and there she became part of the guild of students.

She has been associated with the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP) for many years, linked with the former guerilla movement the Tupamaros.

She is of a Polish noble family ancestry on her father's side (Luis Topolansky).

She is married to José Mujica, who was the President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015.

Political offices
She served as a Representative for Montevideo from 2000 to 2005 and she subsequently became a Senator. In the 2009 election she received the highest number of votes for Senator, being the leader of the 609 list.

She was considered as a possible running mate for Tabaré Vázquez, the presidential candidate of the ruling coalition, in the 2014 elections.

Acting President of Uruguay
On 26 November 2010, due to the absence of both President Mujica and Vice-President Danilo Astori, she became Acting President, making her the first female to assume the Uruguay presidential powers and duties. This brief tenure as acting president lasted until 28 November 2010, when Vice President Astori returned to Uruguay.

This state of affairs came about because of a clause in the Uruguayan Constitution, which stipulates that the Presidential powers & duties passes temporarily to the leader of the largest elected grouping in the Upper House, if both the President and the Vice President are absent from the territory of the Republic.

Vice President of Uruguay
Following the resignation of Raúl Fernando Sendic, after protracted series of controversies, she was appointed Vice President of Uruguay in Sendic's place on 13 September 2017.