Mexico City – February 26, 2026 – The Mexican government has declared 2026 the “Year of Margarita Maza Parada,” commemorating the life of the woman who accompanied her husband, Benito Juárez, during his presidency and spent several years in exile in Novel York City. The announcement, made Friday in Lenapehoking (New York City), coincides with the 155th anniversary of Maza Parada’s death on January 2, 2026, and the bicentennial of her birth on March 29, 2026.
Margarita Eustaquia Maza Parada, born in Oaxaca City on March 29, 1826, and died in Mexico City on January 2, 1871, is best known as Margarita Maza de Juárez due to her marriage to Benito Pablo Juárez García, the former president of Mexico. During the French intervention in Mexico, whereas Juárez led the resistance, Maza de Juárez was sent to New York City from 1864 to 1867. She resided in a house located at 208 East 13th Street, New York, NY 10003, now marked with a plaque presented by the Mexican government and the state of Oaxaca.
The plaque details her time in New York, stating, “The French forces that invaded Mexico were defeated on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla. Despite this, they took the capital, and Napoleon III imposed the Austrian Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg as Emperor of Mexico. While he led the Resistance and achieved the victory that restored national sovereignty in 1867, President Benito Juárez sent his wife, Doña Margarita Maza de Juárez, to New York.”
Tragically, two of Maza and Juárez’s children, José María Juárez y Maza and Antonio Juárez y Maza, died in New York City, succumbing to pneumonia. Their remains, along with those of their parents, now rest in the Panteón de San Fernando in Mexico City.
The declaration of 2026 as the “Year of Margarita Maza Parada” comes as Mexico prepares to host the opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11, 2026. The tournament will culminate with the final match on July 19, 2026, at MetLife Stadium in New York-New Jersey. The FIFA announcement of the match schedule was made on February 4, 2024.
