María Martínez Acosta

María Martínez Acosta, a.k.a., María Martínez Acosta de Pérez Almiroty (25 June 1881 — 1 July 1977) 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.

María Martínez Acosta
María Martínez Acosta, from a 1922 publication.
At-large Member of the Senate of Puerto Rico
In office
1937–1941
Acting leader of the Liberal Party
In office
1938–1938
Preceded byAntonio Rafael Barceló
Succeeded byMaria Antonia Josefina
Personal details
Born
María Martínez Acosta

25 June 1883
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Died1973
Political partyLiberal Party
SpouseFederico Pérez Almiroty
OccupationTeacher

Early life

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, Martínez Acosta 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

Martínez Acosta married Federico Pérez Almiroty, an attorney. They had two children, Blanca and Federico.[11] She was often known by the name 'María Martínez Acosta de Pérez Almiroty' which, under Spanish customs, alludes not only to the fact she is married but also to what family her husband comes from.

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. She died in 1973 and was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico.[13]

A biography of Martínez Acosta, 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 (17 August 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 (9 October 1938): 4. via Newspapers.comopen access
  8. "Senators to Get Puerto Rico Plea" New York Times (27 March 1939): 13.
  9. "Woman Senator Heads Puerto Rican Liberals" New York Times (19 October 1938): 9.
  10. Nolla-Acosta, p77
  11. "Woman Senator to 'Go Back Home'" Washington Post (1 November 1938): X13.
  12. "Asamblea Legislativa homenajea a 12 mujeres ilustres" El Nuevo Dia (6 March 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
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