In the thirteenth chapter of the Great Encyclopedia of Chile we have gotten to know the life, dreams and struggles of a few of the woman that are protagonists of our history.
Fighters for equality
– Elena Caffarena founded the Movimiento Proemancipación de las Mujeres de Chile, Memch (Pro-emancipation Movement of the Women of Chile).
– Maria de la Cruz Toledo became the first woman to reach the Senate in 1953.
– Gladys Marin and Sola Sierra belonged to the Communist party and fought to reestablish human rights during the dictatorship. They also worked towards clearing up cases of disappeared detainees.
Women for education and culture
– Ines Echeverria stood out in the world of literature, with work such as Hacia el Oriente (Towards the East) and Hojas Caidas (Fallen Leaves), among others. She belonged to the generation of 1900.
– Rosa Renard received a scholarship to study in the famous Stern Conservatory in Germany for her artistic merit.
– Irma Salas encouraged the creation of regional university schools, which attempted to decentralize higher learning by taking this type of teaching to different parts of the land.
Other noteworthy people
– Catalina de los Rios y Lisperguer, better known as la Quintrala, went down n history for the crimes she committed and the cruelty of her abuse.
– Fresia and Guacolda were two mapuche women that, according to La Araucana, by Alonso de Ercilla, accompanied Caupolican and Lautaro respectively. There is no certainty regarding their true existence for they have only been mentioned in the Spanish writer’s text.
