María Nicolasa de Valdés y de la Carrera (January 7, 1733 – December 18, 1810) was the first First Lady of Chile from September 18, 1810, when her husband became President

President of Chile

The President of the Republic of Chile is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Chile. The President is responsible of the government and state administration...

 in Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

's First Government Junta

Government Junta of Chile (1810)

Government Junta of the Kingdom of Chile , also known as the First Government Junta, was the organ established to rule Chile following the deposition and imprisonment of King Ferdinand VII by Napoleon Bonaparte...

, until her death four months later.

Nicolasa Valdés was of Basque

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

 descent, born in Santiago, the second daughter of Domingo de Valdés y González de Soberal and of Ana Francisca de Borja de la Carrera y Ureta. She married Mateo de Toro Zambrano, 1st Count of la Conquista on May 3, 1751, and together they had ten children. She died in Santiago, shortly before her husband, at the age of 77.