María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat

María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat
Born	(1921-08-15) 15 August 1921 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	18 February 2012(2012-02-18) (aged 90) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation(s)	Business leader, philanthropist
Years active	1947–2005
Known for	Chairwoman of Loma Negra; philanthropic contributions; art collector

María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat (August 15, 1921 – February 18, 2012) was a notable Argentine business leader and philanthropist.

Life and times

Born in 1921 into distinguished Argentine lineages, María Amalia Sara Lacroze Reyes de Fortabat Pourtal was descended from prominent figures such as Federico Lacroze, who pioneered Buenos Aires' inaugural tramway system, and Manuel Oribe, the second president of Uruguay. Although raised in Paris, she returned to Argentina where she married Hernán de Lafuente in 1942; the couple had one daughter before separating the following year.

In 1947, after changes to Argentina’s marriage laws, she wed industrial magnate Alfredo Fortabat. Their union blended her linguistic talents and social influence with his expertise in business. Alfredo had founded Loma Negra in 1926, which emerged as Argentina’s foremost cement and concrete manufacturer by mid-century. Following his death in 1976, María Amalia took over as majority shareholder, President, and Chairwoman.

During her tenure, Loma Negra grew through the establishment of new plants and the acquisition of rival Cementos San Martín S.A. In the course of the 1992 privatization wave, she secured a controlling interest in Ferrosur Roca railway, integrating it as a logistics division for Loma Negra. That same year saw the inauguration of the company’s new headquarters located in Buenos Aires’ Catalinas Norte business district.

The firm encountered financial difficulties amid Argentina’s 2001 economic downturn, further complicated by internal management conflicts including the removal of her grandson Alejandro Bengolea from his Director role in 2002. Approaching advanced years, she divested her 80% ownership stake in 2005 to Brazilian conglomerate Camargo Corrêa for a sum exceeding US$1 billion.

With an estimated fortune of US$2 billion, Fortabat was recognized as Argentina’s wealthiest woman. She held the position of Chairperson at Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina S.A. and joined Deutsche Bank AG’s Latin American Advisory Board in 2008. Her holdings encompassed prime real estate in Buenos Aires along with extensive ranchlands totaling approximately 160,000 hectares. In 2011, she sold her Manhattan penthouse atop the Pierre Hotel for close to US$20 million.

Her health deteriorated due to respiratory ailments before she passed away at age 90 in Buenos Aires on February 18, 2012. She was laid to rest at La Recoleta Cemetery.

Political activities

Initially a supporter of President-elect Carlos Saul Menem’s Peronist movement, Fortabat later publicly criticized Raúl Alfonsín in 1989 for what she described as "cronyism." Maintaining close ties with Menem, he appointed her plenipotentiary ambassador—a role that was rescinded by Néstor Kirchner following her sale of an 80% stake in Loma Negra to Brazilian firm Camargo Corrêa in 2005.

Art collecting and philanthropy

An avid art collector, Fortabat assembled a portfolio valued around US$280 million by 1999. She set an auction record in 1980 by paying $6.4 million for J. M. W. Turner’s Juliet and Her Nurse. Later, she sold pieces such as Degas’s Mary Cassatt at the Louvre for $16.5 million at Sotheby’s New York auction in 2002.

In 1992, she was named President of the Fondo Nacional de las Bellas Artes. Six years later, she acquired land in Puerto Madero with plans to build a museum dedicated to her collection. The Fortabat Art Collection—a modernist museum designed by Rafael Viñoly—opened its doors in Buenos Aires in October 2008.

Her Fundación Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat has contributed over $40 million since its inception in 1976 to various Argentine charities, assisting Falklands War veterans and refugees from Kosovo among others. Additionally, she co-founded Fundación Teatro Colón, served as trustee for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, and generously supported numerous Buenos Aires cultural institutions including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and Museo de Arte Moderno.

In 1997, Fortabat opposed awarding her foundation’s prize for best debut Argentine novel to Federico Andahazi’s contentious work The Anatomist. Despite her public disapproval, she ultimately approved the $15,000 monetary award while withholding the physical prize itself.

External links

• MercoPress – Article highlighting one of Argentina's most affluent women renowned for her commitment to philanthropy and the arts
• Creating Emerging Markets Interview hosted by Harvard Business School