Lorena Ponce de León


Lorena Ponce de León Núñez is a Uruguayan landscape architect. She is the current first lady of Uruguay, as the wife of the 42nd president of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou.

Early life and education

She was born on October 6, 1976 in Montevideo, as the daughter of a Batllist mother and a father with little connection to politics. She was raised in La Blanqueada, Montevideo, where she lived until being 9 year old and then she moved with her parents to Carrasco. She attended the German School and the Scuola Italiana.
She graduated from Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the :es:Universidad_de_la_Empresa|Universidad de la Empresa with a Forest Technician degree. She also studied Forest Technician at the Professor Julio Muñoz School of Gardening.

First Lady of Uruguay

Sembrando Program

In March 2020, she launched Sembrando, a program that aims to support entrepreneurs after the health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The program makes it possible to consult with experts in the area and helps to connect entrepreneurs with institutions related to the topic of their entrepreneurship. The first lady herself reported on April 7 that 1,460 people had signed up.

Personal life

Ponce de León is a hockey player. In November 1989, Ponce de León met with Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou at a youth gathering to celebrate the victory of Luis Lacalle Herrera, as President of Uruguay. Ten years later, they met again and began dating. They were married in 2000, in a service conducted by Daniel Sturla in the Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral. Together, they have three children: Luis Alberto, Violeta and Manuel. Luis and Violeta are the first twins born by IVF in Uruguay.