Amanda Labarca

Vocation

Chilean diplomat, educator, writer and feminist. Her work was directed mainly at improving the situation of Latin American women and women's suffrage in Chile. She adopted her husbands two surnames, Labarca Hubertson after her marriage to Guillermo Labarca Hubertson during a trip to the U.S., amongst protest from her family. She was a founder of the National Committee for Women's Rights, created in 1933, along with Elena Caffarena and other women. She was appointed ambassador in 1946, by the government of President Gabriel González Videla, as the representative of Chile to the United Nations and head of the Status of Women section. She was also literary critic and writer, dealing especially with the role of women in society. She directed the Reading Circle newspaper, the Women's Action, which had outstanding participation in the struggle for women's suffrage and fighting bribery (the sale of votes). As a result, in 1944, she was elected president of the Chilean Federation of Feminine Institutions. She established Summer Schools at the University of Chile. She taught courses and seminars in countries throughout the Americas. In 1964 she was honored as an Academic Member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Chile, and in 1969 the Academy of Political Science, Sociology and Morals at the Chilean Institute. She was the first Latin American to pursue a university professorship. She wrote numerous books on education and feminism. In 1976, the University of Chile founded the Amanda Labarca Award in her memory, designed to recognize the merits of a college woman once a year. She died 2 January 1975. Link to Wikipedia biography