María Martínez Acosta

María Martínez Acosta, a.k.a., María Martínez Acosta de Pérez Almiroty (18 March 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.

Early life Martínez Acosta was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Moved to Ponce, Puerto Rico,Carmen Delgado Votaw, Puerto Rican Women: Some Biographical Profiles (National Conference of Puerto Rican Women, 1978): 14. 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.Conrado Asenjo, Quién es quién en Puerto Rico, Volume 2 (Impreso por Real hermanos, Incorporated, 1936): 102, 103.

Career In 1922, Martínez Acosta was president of the Woman's Civic Club, working on children's health issues.Edith Mary Irvine Rivera, "Porto Rico Takes Account of Its Children" The Continent (17 August 1922): 1059. Soon after Puerto Rican women gained full voting rights,Marysa Navarro, Virginia Sánchez Korrol, Kecia Ali, eds., Women in Latin America and the Caribbean: Restoring Women to History (Indiana University Press 1999): 93. Perez Almiroty became the first woman to be elected to the Senate of Puerto Rico,"Feminism and Women's Rights" in Serafín Méndez-Méndez and Ronald Fernandez, eds., Puerto Rico Past and Present: An Encyclopedia (ABC-Clio 2015): 158. when she won a seat as an at-large senator in the 1936 elections, representing the Liberal Party.Juan Jose Nolla-Acosta, JD, Puerto Rican Election Results, 1899-2012 (Lulu.com 2013): 70. As Puerto Rico's only woman senator,"Woman Senator Says Minority Fight Hopeless" Eau Claire Leader (9 October 1938): 4. via Newspapers.com 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."Senators to Get Puerto Rico Plea" New York Times (27 March 1939): 13. She was briefly the acting leader of the Liberal Party in 1938, after the death of Antonio Rafael Barceló."Woman Senator Heads Puerto Rican Liberals" New York Times (19 October 1938): 9. She did not contest the 1940 elections.Nolla-Acosta, p77

Personal life and legacy Martínez Acosta married Federico Pérez Almiroty, an attorney. They had two children, Blanca and Federico."Woman Senator to 'Go Back Home'" Washington Post (1 November 1938): X13. 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."Asamblea Legislativa homenajea a 12 mujeres ilustres" El Nuevo Dia (6 March 2014). There is a public elementary school named for Pérez Almiroty in San Juan. She lived a teachers retirement home until her death on July 1, 1977 at age 96. She was buried at the Puerto Rico Memorial Cemetery in Carolina, Puerto Rico.Maria M. De Perez Almiroty School Information, Public Schools K12.

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.Sara R. Bonilla del Rio, María Martínez de Pérez Almiroty: Los primeros pasos de la mujer en el Senado (CreateSpace 2015).

María Martínez Acosta

Bron en licentie