Ana de Narváez de Caro

Ana de Narváez de Caro (née de Narváez Guerra-Azuola; March 8, 1847 – March 23, 1909) was the first lady of Colombia from 1894 to 1898, as the wife of Miguel Antonio Caro, the 4th president of Colombia.^[1] She was previously second lady of Colombia from 1892 to 1894, when her husband was vice president under President Rafael Núñez. Among her children are Julio Caro, the manager of the Bank of the Republic from 1927 to 1947 and the writer Víctor Caro.^[2] At the time she became First Lady, she was the youngest woman to hold the position, only surpassed by Matilde Osorio de Marroquín in 1900.

Ana de Narváez Guerra-Azuola was born on March 8, 1847, in Bogotá, Cundinamarca, then part of New Granada, to Antonio de Narváez (1817–1872) and Concepción Guerra-Azuola de Narváez (née Guerra-Azuola). His father was born in Kingston, Jamaica, while his parents were away on a business trip.^[2] De Narváez met Caro in 1870 and they married in February 1873. At the time of their marriage, she was 25 years old. During their courtship, De Narváez had been an inspiration to Miguel because of her beauty, as reflected in his work Horas de Amor.^[3] This work was later used by Jorge Isaacs as the basis for his own novel, María.

After their marriage, the Caros became an increasingly prominent family in Bogotá circles due to Miguel Antonio's journalistic and academic work; he was perceived as a great thinker. While Caro was emerging as a potential leader within the Conservative Party, Ana gave birth to their first child, Julio, on January 12, 1880. In 1892, Caro began his presidential campaign within the highest circles of the capital and the country.^[4] Due to her fourth pregnancy, Ana did not accompany him. Following the alliance between the National Party and the Conservative Party, Caro became Núñez's running mate, who would later win the 1892 election.^[4] After the inauguration, Núñez stepped down from her position and resided in Cartagena, so Narváez took on the role of social hostess at the San Carlos Palace, in a very limited way, partly due to her pregnancies and in order to preserve the place that belonged to Soledad Román de Núñez.^[5]