Matilda Cuomo was born on Mattia Raffa on September 16,1931 and is an American advocate for women and children, former First Lady of New York from 1983 to 1994, and matriarch of the Cuomo family.
23 Facts About Matilda Cuomo
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Matilda Cuomo is the widow of Governor of New York Mario Cuomo and mother of Andrew Cuomo who served as Governor of New York before resigning in August 2021 and former CNN presenter Chris Cuomo.
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The founder of the child advocacy group Mentoring USA, Cuomo was inducted to the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2017.
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Matilda Cuomo is the third of five children, with older brothers Frank and Sam and younger brother Joseph and sister Nancy.
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Matilda Cuomo's mother attempted to register her daughter for kindergarten at a Brooklyn elementary school.
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Years later, Matilda Cuomo recalled the registrar yelling, "Get Mrs Raffa out of here and tell her she can come back when she can speak English," at her mother.
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Matilda Cuomo further pursued her studies in teaching at St John's University in Queens, graduating in 1954 from St John's Teachers College.
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Matilda Raffa Cuomo met Mario Cuomo in 1951 in the cafeteria at St John's University in Queens where they were both enrolled in school.
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Matilda Cuomo worked as a teacher and supported her husband while he completed law school at St John's, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree in 1956.
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Matilda Cuomo served as First Lady of New York State, where she was highly active in advocating for women, children, and families.
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Matilda Cuomo created initiatives that mentored children at-risk, facilitated finding long term homes for foster children, and strengthened families through providing education, including nutrition and immunization programs.
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Matilda Cuomo founded the New York State Mentoring Program in 1984 with the aim of creating one-on-one mentoring opportunities for children and young adults.
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Matilda Cuomo chaired the New York State Decade of the Child initiative.
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Matilda Cuomo has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss her work in support of mentoring programs.
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Matilda Cuomo co-chaired the Governor's Commission on Child Care and chaired the NY Citizens' Task Force on the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.
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Matilda Cuomo has received numerous honors for her lifelong work as an educator and advocate for women, children, and families.
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Matilda Cuomo was honored in 2011 with the Champion for New York's Children and Families Award by the Maternity and Early Childhood Foundation in Albany, New York.
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Matilda Cuomo was the distinguished honoree in 2016 at the 75th Anniversary Jubilee for Midwood High School.
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Matilda Cuomo was the recipient of the first Liberty Partnerships Program Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for her work to improve the lives of New York's children through education and mentorship.
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On March 20,2020, her son, New York Governor Andrew Matilda Cuomo, announced a protective order for people over 70 in the state in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Matilda Cuomo called it "Matilda's Law" in honor of his mother, and appealed to all citizens to think of their mothers in abiding by the restrictions.
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Matilda Cuomo's elder son, Andrew Cuomo, was New York's 56th governor until he resigned and Cuomo's daughter Maria Cuomo Cole is a film producer of Newtown and The Invisible War.
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Matilda Cuomo's younger son is journalist Chris Cuomo, and daughter Margaret Cuomo is a physician specializing in radiology.