She and Pedro Aguirre Cerda were married in 1916, but they never had children.
She became the First Lady of Chile in 1938 when her husband assumed the presidency.She was greatly committed to education, was popular with the public, and was a supporter of women's participation in politics in Chile.After the death of her husband from tuberculosis in 1941, she established in his memory the Pedro Aguirre Cerda Children's Home Foundation to care for abandoned children.