FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2007 file photo, Argentina's new president Cristina Fernandez, left, and her husband, Argentina's departing President Nestor Kirchner, wave after Fernandez was sworn in at the... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2007 file photo, Argentina's departing president Nestor Kirchner, right, embraces his wife, Argentina's new president Cristina Fernandez, during a music festival in front of the... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this June 18, 2008 file photo, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, left, and her husband former president Nestor Kirchner wave to supporters at a pro-government rally in Buenos... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this June 22, 2009 file photo, Argentina's former president Nestor Kirchner gestures at a campaign rally in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to state television in Argentina, Nestor Kirchner... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 14, 2009 file photo, Argentina's former President Nestor Kirchner greets supporters during his congressional campaign in La Plata, Argentina. According to state television in Argentina,... (Associated Press) 
 
 The husband of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez succumbed heart trouble as the couple waited in their home in the Patagonian city of Calafate to be counted in the nation's census. Fernandez was at his side when he died, state television reported. 
 
 Kirchner, 60, had undergone an antioplasty after a heart attack in September. 
 
 Kirchner a likely candidate in next year's presidential elections, was secretary general of the South American alliance known as Unasur and also served as a congressman and leader of the Peronist party. 
 
 There was no immediate confirmation of his death from the presidency, but the news immediately had great impact in Argentina. 
 
 "A great patriot has died," said Juan Carlos Dante Gullo, a ruling party congressman, to state TV. "This will leave a huge hole in Argentine politics. We will have to follow his example. Argentina has lost one of its greatest men." 
 
 Kirchner brought Argentina out of severe economic crisis before being replaced in office by his wife. 

 * Kirchner was contender for 2011 presidential race 
 
 * He oversaw Argentina's recovery from economic crash 
 
 * Critics saw him as divisive, authoritarian figure 
 
 * Argentina asset prices rally following news (Adds color, fresh quotes and details) 
 
 By Helen Popper and Nicolas Misculin 
 
 BUENOS AIRES, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, the current president's husband and a leading contender to succeed her in next year's election, died from a heart attack on Wednesday. 
 
 Kirchner, 60, was credited by many Argentines with putting South America's No. 2 economy back on its feet after a devastating 2001/02 economic crisis, but critics reviled his combative style and interventionist economic policies. 
 
 Argentine bond and stock prices rose on news of the death of the center-leftist, who kept a firm hold on the reins of power even after his wife Cristina Fernandez was elected to succeed him in 2007. 
 
 "It was a sudden death," Kirchner's doctor, Luis Buonomo, told Reuters after the former president died in the Patagonian tourist city of El Calafate, where he and Fernandez have a weekend home. 
 
 His death raises uncertainty about the government's strategy for next year's election, and might encourage Fernandez to seek a second consecutive term. 
 
 Kirchner was still a popular leader when he left the presidency but his approval ratings have since fallen sharply and his wife has emerged as the more popular of the two. 
 
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 Full coverage of Kirchner's death: [ID:nARGENTINA] 
 
 Political risks in Argentina: [ID:nRISKAR] 
 
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 Kirchner started his political career in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, where he was governor for many years, and he was elected president as a virtual unknown in 2003 on the ashes of the economic meltdown,
– Nestor Kirchner, Argentina's former and probable future president, and husband of current President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has died today of a heart attack. He was 60. Kirchner, widely expected to run for the presidency next year, had undergone two heart procedures earlier this year, reports Reuters. Kirchner was his wife's closest adviser and a political force of nature in Argentina, having been the architect of his country's emergence from economic crisis during his 2003-2007 tenure. "A great patriot has died," said a ruling party congressman, according to the AP. "This will leave a huge hole in Argentine politics. We will have to follow his example. Argentina has lost one of its greatest men."