From Madame Mao to Evita: A look at some of the most influential first ladies of history

Madame Mao

Seventy years ago, a very powerful and ambitious woman emerged in China named Jiang Qing (aka Madame Mao). She was an actress-turned communist revolutionary and the fourth wife of legendary Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Originally known by her stage name Lan Ping (Blue Apple), she gave up acting when marrying Mao in November 1938, first serving as his personal secretary and head of the Film Section at the Communist Party's Propaganda Department.

In 1966, Mao appointed her deputy director of the Cultural Revolution to help promote his cult personality.  Three years later, Jiang was "elected" to the Communist Party's Politburo, which put her at daggers-end with Mao's friends and rivals — making her one of the most powerful women in Asia.

The daughter of a carpenter, Jiang was born into a working-class family in 1914.  After her father's death, she lived with her mother who cleaned homes to make ends meet, sending her into child labour at a cigarette factory. From there she moved into theatre and worked as a professional actress while studying at the National Qingdao University.

She also joined the Communist Party and was arrested for her activism in Shanghai in September 1934. Her communist work introduced her to Mao who was twice her age and was already married with five children.  They married in November 1938 and after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, she became China's First Lady.

She joined the Politburo of the Communist Party in April 1969, creating what came to be known as the Gang of Four with hardline communists Zhang Chungiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen, who all occupied powerful posts in the Politburo. 

They were the backbone of Mao's Cultural Revolution which started in May 1966, whose declared goal was to preserve Chinese communism by purging the remains of capitalism from Chinese society.

Jiang took advantage of the revolution—known for its radicalisation, violence, and chaos — to purge her own enemies, including those who had wronged her during her early acting career.

Thousands died in the process, with some estimates putting the death toll at over 1 million. 

Things changed when Mao died on 9 September 1976. She was arrested shortly thereafter, along with the Gang of Four, and charged with attempts at seizing power by coup in Shanghai and Beijing.

Jiang was detained for five years during which she was beaten, starved, and tortured. In 1980 her trial began and was televised worldwide. She appeared bold, refusing to confess any guilt or remorse.

She dismissed her lawyers and decided to defend herself, saying that all her actions were under the command of her husband. "I was Chairman Mao's dog" she famously said, "I bit whomever he asked me to bite."

In 1991, Jiang was released on medical grounds, after being diagnosed with throat cancer. She took her own life by hanging herself in the bathroom of her hospital room on 14 May 1991.

Evita Peron

Popularised by her portrayal by international pop icon Madonna in the 1996 musical film Evita, the former first lady of Argentina, Eva Peron, was one of the most powerful and ambitious women in world politics.

Like Jiang, she too began her career as an actress before becoming first lady of Argentina from June 1946 until her untimely death in July 1952.

She was born into poverty in 1919 and began her career on the stage of Buenos Aires at the tender age of 15. She dyed her black hair colour blonde to appear more attractive, which she kept for the rest of her life, and began to model and act in low-budget commercial films.

She married Colonel Juan Peron in 1945 (then-labour minister), months before his election as president in June 1946. They first met at a charity event to raise funds for the victims of an earthquake in the town of San Juan in January 1944, killing 10,000 people. 

While Jiang rose to power through the Communist Party, Eva chose trade unions as her vehicle to power, becoming their president and positioning herself as a champion of the Argentinian working class.  She also ran the ministries of labour and health and established her own foundation called the Eva Peron Foundation.

She lobbied for women's suffrage in Argentina and went on to found the first large-scale women's party, the Female Peronist Party. By 1951, the party had 500,000 members and 3,600 offices across Argentina.

When her husband passed the law for women's voting rights, he presented the document to his wife, as a token of appreciation for her efforts. As first lady she embarked on a much-publicised tour of Europe in 1947, meeting General Francisco Franco of Spain, President Charles de Gaulle of France, and Pope Pius XII. It landed her on the 14 July 1947 front cover of TIME Magazine, making her an international icon.

Like Aliev, Evita nominated herself for the post of vice-president in 1951, at the request of her husband, but was forced to withdraw her candidacy, namely for health reasons.

President Peron honoured her with the title Spiritual Leader of the Nation, on the occasion of her 33rd birthday in May 1952. It would also be her last. She died on 26 July 1952 and was given a state funeral usually reserved for heads of states.

Christina de Kirchner

It would take another 60 years for Argentina to have another such ambitious woman, Christina de Kirchner, who was born in February 1953, just months after Evita's death.

A lawyer by training, she served as president of Argentina from 2007 to 2015. Before that she had been first lady during the reign of her husband Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007).

Kirchner was actually not the first female president of Argentina and was preceded by none other than Juan Peron's third wife Isabelle in 1974. Ideologically, Christina identifies herself as a Peronist. 

She first entered politics as a member of Argentina's constitutional assembly in 1994, before becoming senator one year later. When her husband's tenure ended in 2007, he did not seek re-election but pushed for his wife's election.

He died in 2010 and she was re-elected for a second term in 2011, and since 2019, has been serving as vice-president of Argentina.

Born to working class parents like all her predecessors, her father was a bus driver and ironically, an anti-Peronist. Christina studied at the National University of La Plata, studying psychology first, then law. She married Nestor in 1975 and worked with him at his law firm four years later.

Their firm worked for banks and financial groups and earned fame for defending military figures accused of crimes. From there they began a working relationship that would drag into politics, with them rotating at the presidency.

When Nestor nominated her to succeed him as president it was rumoured that they could alternate at the presidency for the next 12 years to circumvent the constitutional limit of two consecutive terms for each president. Nestor was supposed to succeed her in 2015 but died before those elections happened.

Elena Ceaucșescu

Last but not least is Elena, wife of Nicolae Ceaucșescu, the president of Romania who — after an illustrious life and career — was killed on Christmas Day in 1989 along with her husband.

Born into a peasant family, she never got past elementary school and worked first at a laboratory then at a textile factor, where she joined the Bucharest branch of the Communist Party.  This is where she met her future husband, and they married in 1947.

She rose to power and fame after he became secretary-general of the party in 1965, drawing great inspiration from Madame Mao whom she met during the Ceaucșescus visit to China in June 1971.

One year later, she was elected to the Romanian Communist Party's Central Committee and, in June 1973, became a member of its Politburo. Her husband became president in March 1974, and Elena became both first lady and "partner" in the communist regime.

From here, Elena rose from one height to another, joining the National Assembly and then, in March 1980, becoming deputy prime minister of Romania.

By all accounts, Nicolae Ceaucșescu had plans for her to succeed him, or to step down in her favour. Like Juan Peron, he bestowed upon her the title "Mother of the Nation" and a cult worship began to emerge around the pair.

The Romanian Revolution led to their arrest, and, after a mock trial, they were both executed by firing squad on 25 December 1989. She was 73.