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Reuters â€" 10 hrs ago


BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - One of Argentina's wealthiest women, Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, who ran the country's biggest cement maker before dedicating herself to art and philanthropy, has died at her home in Buenos Aires, her family said on Saturday. She was 90 years old.

Fortabat, dubbed 'the cement lady,' ran cement and concrete maker Loma Negra for nearly 25 years following the death of her husband and sold it to Brazil's Camargo Correa group in 2005 for around $1 billion.

"Mrs. Fortabat was a clear leader in the growth and development of Argentine industry," her family said in a statement, which added that she was one of the country's most active supporters of charities through the Fortabat Foundation.

The avant-garde Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat museum in Buenos Aires includes works by Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro and Andy Warhol.

(Reporting by Guido Nejamkis; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Anthony Boadle)

Argentine business woman Amalia Fortabat (L) poses for a picture with Argentine presidential candidates Domingo Cavallo and Fernando de la Rua (R) after a meeting in Santiago, May 6, 1999. REUTERS/Martin Thomas