María Teresa Ferrari Alvarado was born on 11 October 1887 in Buenos Aires, Argentina[1] to David Ferrari White and Catalina Alvarado. Her family were among the founding citizens of Argentina: her paternal great-grandfather, Guillermo Pío White had provided money to assist the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in defeating the Spanish and her maternal great-grandfather Rudesindo Alvarado had served in the Army of the Andes.[2]