María de Pérez Almiroty

María de Pérez Almiroty
Maria Perez Almiroty, from a 1922 publication.
At-large Member of the Senate
In office
1937–1941
Acting leader of the Liberal Party
In office
1938–1938
Preceded by Antonio Rafael Barceló
Succeeded by Maria Antonia Josefina
Personal details
Born María Martínez Acosta
June 25, 1883
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died 1973
Political party Liberal Party
Spouse(s) Federico Pérez Almiroty
Occupation Teacher

María Martínez Acosta de Pérez Almiroty (June 25, 1883 — 1973) was a Puerto Rican teacher, clubwoman and the first woman to be elected senator in Puerto Rico. She is one of the twelve women honored with a plaque in "La Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza in Honor of Puerto Rican Women) in San Juan.

Early life

María Martínez Acosta was born at Ponce, Puerto Rico,[1] the daughter of Carmelo Martínez Rivas and Elvira Acosta de Martínez. Her brother Carmelo Martínez Acosta was a journalist. She finished a teacher training course at the University of Puerto Rico in 1904.[2]

Career

In 1922, Perez Almiroty was president of the Woman's Civic Club, working on children's health issues.[3] Soon after Puerto Rican women gained full voting rights,[4] Perez Almiroty became the first woman to be elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico,[5] when she won a seat as an at-large senator in the 1936 elections, representing the Liberal Party.[6] As Puerto Rico's only woman senator,[7] she was one of the leaders who signed a 1939 protest letter to the United States Senate, against a labor treaty which would restrict the work of women in dependent territories.[8] She was briefly the acting leader of the Liberal Party in 1938, after the death of Antonio Rafael Barceló.[9] She did not contest the 1940 elections.[10]

Personal life and legacy

María Martínez Acosta married Federico Pérez Almiroty, a lawyer who died in 1938. They had two children, Blanca and Federico.[11] She died in 1973, aged 90 years.

She is one of the twelve women honored with a plaque in the "Plaza en Honor a la Mujer Puertorriqueña" (Plaza in Honor of Puerto Rican Women) in San Juan.[12] There is a public elementary school named for Pérez Almiroty in San Juan.[13]

A biography of Pérez Almiroty, Sara R. Bonilla del Rio's María Martínez de Pérez Almiroty: Los primeros pasos de la mujer en el Senado, was published in 2015.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Carmen Delgado Votaw, Puerto Rican Women: Some Biographical Profiles (National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, 1978): 14.
  2. ↑ Conrado Asenjo, Quién es quién en Puerto Rico, Volume 2 (Impreso por Real hermanos, Incorporated, 1936): 102, 103.
  3. ↑ Edith Mary Irvine Rivera, "Porto Rico Takes Account of Its Children" The Continent (August 17, 1922): 1059.
  4. ↑ Marysa Navarro, Virginia Sánchez Korrol, Kecia Ali, eds., Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Restoring Women to History (Indiana University Press 1999): 93. ISBN 9780253213075
  5. ↑ "Feminism and Women's Rights" in Serafín Méndez-Méndez and Ronald Fernandez, eds., Puerto Rico Past and Present: An Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio 2015): 158. ISBN 9781440828324
  6. ↑ Juan Jose Nolla-Acosta, JD, Puerto Rican Election Results, 1899-2012 (Lulu.com 2013): 70. ISBN 9781300671411
  7. ↑ "Woman Senator Says Minority Fight Hopeless" Eau Claire Leader (October 9, 1938): 4. via Newspapers.com
  8. ↑ "Senators to Get Puerto Rico Plea" New York Times (March 27, 1939): 13.
  9. ↑ "Woman Senator Heads Puerto Rican Liberals" New York Times (October 19, 1938): 9.
  10. ↑ Nolla-Acosta, p77
  11. ↑ "Woman Senator to 'Go Back Home'" Washington Post (November 1, 1938): X13.
  12. ↑ "Asamblea Legislativa homenajea a 12 mujeres ilustres" El Nuevo Dia (March 6, 2014).
  13. ↑ Maria M. De Perez Almiroty School Information, Public Schools K12.
  14. ↑ Sara R. Bonilla del Rio, María Martínez de Pérez Almiroty: Los primeros pasos de la mujer en el Senado (CreateSpace 2015). ISBN 9781507757383
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.