A woman I admire...

Hello everyone! In this last blog I will talk about a woman I admire a lot.

She is Elena Caffarena, she was a great defender of women's rights, at a time marked by tremendous political, social and legal disadvantage, she dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of the working class and the emancipation of women.

I admire her because she was a pioneer, she formed and led the first feminist organizations in the country, which were key to improving women's rights, she encouraged women to occupy spaces that were only for men, opening the way for society to will transform.

Biography :

Elena Caffarena, was born in Iquique in 1903, the daughter of Italian immigrants.

In her adolescence she emigrated to the city of Santiago, where her family settled with a small socks and stockings workshop, where she frequently worked.

In the twenties she entered the University of Chile, where she was the fifteenth woman to obtain a law degree in the country, thanks to which she developed a great legal-intellectual career.

During her years of study, she and her friends were the first women to approach Fech, encouraging more women to join. In 1931 she participated in the formation of the association of university women. In 1935 she, together with several women, formed the "Movement for the emancipation of the women of Chile", MEMCH.

Years later she, together with Flor Heredia, drafted the bill that would allow women to vote in all elections, a bill that took many years to enact.

Under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, her house became a center of operations and a meeting point for feminists and dissidents in general, and she was one of the founders of the Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Peoples, CODEPU, and of the Foundation for the Child Protection. Affected by States of Emergency, ASK.

In 2003, Elena Caffarena passed away, being a tremendous woman, who during her long life successfully fought for the rights of all those who lived under injustice.