Paraguay
Once in Paraguay, Eliza Lynch became López's partner, bearing him six children in total. The eldest of them, Juan Francisco "Panchito" López was born in Asuncion in 1855. The last child she would bear from López, Leopoldo, born in 1867, was born in the midst of the Paraguayan War and would soon after die of dysentery due to the poor conditions in the front.
After C.A. López died in 1862, he left his son, F.S. López, as his successor as president. She then became the de facto first lady, as she and López never actually married. Eliza Lynch would spend the next 15 years as the most powerful woman in the country. While she never married López, her marriage to Quatrefages was annulled on the grounds that it did not fulfill the legal obligations for it to be considered a lawful marriage (he had not received permission to marry from his commanding officer, and they had no children together). This is supported by his remarriage in 1857, a marriage from which he had children.
She is considered to be the reason Lopez was so ambitious. However, in a book she wrote in 1876 while in Buenos Aires titled "Exposición. Protesta que hace Elisa A. Lynch" (Exposition. Protest made by Elisa A. Lynch) she states that she had actually no knowledge of and did not meddle in political affairs, rather dedicating her time during the war to helping the wounded and the innumerable families which followed López wherever he went.
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