SAO PAULO: Former Brazilian first lady Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva, a constant and strong presence at the side of husband Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during his rise to the presidency and his recent fall, died on Friday. She was 66.
She had been hospitalized in Sao Paulo since Jan. 24 after suffering a stroke. A statement from the hospital said she died at 6:57 p.m. local time, shortly after the former president and doctors said she no longer had any brain function.
On his Facebook page, the former president confirmed his wife’s death and called her “Brazil’s eternal first lady.”
Both members of the still highly popular couple became entangled in corruption investigations that have roiled Brazil the last few years.
In September, Marisa Leticia Lula da Silva was charged with corruption in one case along with her husband. The couple and several others were accused of benefiting from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja in Sao Paulo state.
The couple denied doing anything wrong.