Matilde Hidalgo Navarro de Procel (September 29, 1889, in Loja, Ecuador – February 20, 1974, in Guayaquil, Ecuador) was an Ecuadorian physician, poet, and activist. Hidalgo was the first woman to exercise the right to vote in Latin America, and also the first to receive a Doctorate in Medicine. Hidalgo fought for the recognition of women's rights and is one of the most important women in Ecuadorian history. In 1973 she was paralyzed by a stroke, and she died in Guayaquil on February 20, 1974.

Biography

Matilde Hidalgo Navarro de Procel became the first woman to graduate from a high school in Ecuador the first woman to vote in an election in Latin America and the first woman to hold elected office in her country. Two years later, Matilde married the lawyer Fernando Procel, and they had two children named Fernando and Gonzalo Procel, Fernando became a doctor and Gonzalo became an architect.

In 1974 at the age of 85 years in Guayaquil, Ecuador she died after complications with an earlier stroke, after her death a museum was established in Loja about her memories and achievements.

Professional life and suffrage

During the presidency of José Luis Tamayo, Matilde announced that she was going to vote in the 1924 Ecuadorian presidential election. At the time, women were not allowed to vote. The issue was put under ministerial consultation, eventually ruling in her favor. On June 9, 1924, Matilde Hidalgo voted in Loja, Ecuador, becoming the first woman in Latin America to exercise her constitutional right to vote in a national election, and making Ecuador the first country on the continent to grant women voting rights.

  • Honorary lifetime president of the Ecuadorian Red Cross in El Oro

Other known titles include:

  • The woman and love.
  • The goldfinch.
  • Where is my happiness?
  • In the apotheosis of Don Bernardo Valdivieso.
  • The constant woman's plea.
  • Forget me by God.
  • To María.
  • The Tenth of August.
  • Proscription.
  • My ideal.
  • To Cuenca Jonah.
  • Celicano patriotic hymn.
  • Sacrifice.
  • The poet.
  • The drop of dew.
  • By leaving we do not raise our store.
  • Song of spring.
  • In the agony of the evening.

Memberships

  • Medical Federation of Ecuador (founding member)
  • Surgical Association of Quito (founding member)
  • Press circle of Quito
  • Machala Feminine Institute of Culture
  • Committee of Women of the Red Cross in the Gold Province.
  • House of the Ecuadorian Culture, center of the Gold Province.
  • Committee of Women Lions of Machala.
  • Medical Society of Ecuador.
  • Society of Women Physicians of Guayas.
  • National Federation of Journalists.
  • College of Physicians of El Oro.
  • Union of American Women, UMA.
  • National Union of Ecuadorian Women, UNME.
  • Pan-American Medical Association (PAMA), Ecuador Chapter.
  • Benemérita Surgical Society of Guayas

Contributions

She overcame the odds at a time when men occupied all spaces of power, becoming the first woman to obtain a doctorate in medicine in Ecuador and the first female academic professional in the country.

Tribute

In 2004 César Carmigniani, movie and TV director, directed the movie "Matilde, la dama del siglo". Almost ten years after, Carmigniani directed a new movie of Matilde called "La dama invencible". This movie shows her life between 1907 and 1924, period of time where she lived in Machala.

On November 21, 2019, Google celebrated her with a Google Doodle in honor of what would have been her 130th birthday.

References

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