Bussi, nicknamed "Tencha", was born in Rancagua to a well-off family. She was the daughter of Ciro Bussi Aguilera, an officer in the country's merchant marine and Mercedes Soto García.[1] She graduated from the University of Chile as a teacher of History and Geography and worked as a librarian at the National Statistics Office.
Bussi met her future husband in the aftermath of the 1939 Chillán earthquake,[2] in which more than 40.000 Chileans lost their lives.[3] They were involved in the campaign for those made homeless by the earthquake. They married a year later, in 1940. Allende then became minister of health in the Popular Front government of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, at the start of his political career.[2]
