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Hermila Galindo Acosta | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hermila Galindo Acosta 2 June 1886 Villa Lerdo, Durango, Mexico |
| Died | 18 August 1954 (aged 68) , Mexico |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Other names | Hermila Galindo Acosta de Topete |
| Occupation(s) | journalist, activist |
Hermila Galindo Acosta (also known as Hermila Galindo de Topete) (1886–1954) was a Mexican feminist and a writer. She was an early supporter of many radical feminist issues, primarily sex education in schools, women's suffrage, and divorce. She was one of the first feminists to state the Catholicism in Mexico was thwarting feminist efforts and she was the first woman to run for elected office in Mexico.
Early life
Hermila Galindo was born June 2nd, 1886 in Villa Lerdo, Durango. She was raised by her middle class parents, Hermila Acosta and Rosario Galindo, however, her mother passed away and her aunt stepped in to help parent her. After her mother’s death, she became highly studious. She not only attended school locally in Villa Lerdo, but also traveled to Torreón and Chihuahua to take courses. She was particularly interested in stenography and typing, although, her father aspired to send her to the United States to study chemistry after she graduated grade school. These plans were foiled when her father died and she was forced to obtain a job as a transcriber to support herself. She transcribed a speech given by Francisco Ortiz disgracing the Mexican president, Porfirio Díaz. The mayor of Villa Lerdo attempted to cease all copies of the speech before they circulated, however, Hermila managed to keep her copy of the speech. Several months later, a Diaz adversary, Benito Juárez Maza, heard that a copy of the speech was still in existence and sought out Hermila. After retrieving the speech from her, he promptly distributed it amongst the political community along with Galindo’s name. This instance marked the beginning of Galindo’s political involvement. Two years later in 1911, she moved to Mexico City.[1]
Mid-Life
Arriving in Mexico City in 1911, Galindo joined a liberal club, the "Abraham González" club. Eventually she became a public supporter of Venustiano Carranza, lobbying against Porfirio Díaz.[2] She was discovered by Venustiano Carranza while giving a speech to welcome him upon his return to the capital, after the end of the anti-revolutionary government of General Victoriano Huerta.[2] He then offered her the opportunity to work with him in Veracruz in 1914.[2] She became his private secretary and continued rallying support for the rights of Mexican women and liberal ideologies. Carranza supported her efforts, permitting her to distribute feminist propaganda in the southern Mexican states of Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatán, and in the traditionally liberal state of Veracruz, as well as Carranza's home state of Coahuila, and San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León.[3] Carranza also appointed her as his representative in Cuba and Colombia, to publicize his policies in surrounding Latin America.[1]Carranza gave Galindo such an active post in his campaign as he believed she would appeal to women, and Carranza needed all the support available to defeat the more popular Zapata and Pancho Villa.[2]
From 1915-1919, Galindo was the editor of a feminist journal called La Mujer Moderna.
At the time her views of sex education and women's sexuality were considered to be extremely radical. Her approach seeking equality and women's rights were seen as controversial. Among her more radical views was the idea that in order for women to be truly liberated there must be sex education in schools.[2] During the Feminist Congress of 1916, Galindo read her speech "La mujer en el porvenir" ("Women in the Future"). The ideas put forth by Galindo were radical even to moderate feminists, especially her argument that women have a strong sex drive.[2]Furthermore, her speech approved divorce, was against the Church, and was against Mexican Machismo. These views inspired such opposition that a protester, Isolina Pérez, demanded her speech be burned with enthusiastic support of the entire auditorium. Galindo's views were no heavily supported by feminists as she only represented the alt-left.[2]
Galindo supported Carranza through his election in 1917 and was loyal to him through all his criticisms.[2]Carranza allowed Galindo to submit a proposal for women's equality to the Constitutional Assembly of 1917, but the item was stricken from the final agenda.[6] Her strong support for Carranza was evident in her writings, which expressed her faith in him and his potential to create a social revolution. Through him she believed that women could get the vote and that there was hope for social reform. In the end, Carranza failed to create the change he promised. Instead, because of corruption, he became an enemy of the revolution, and left Galindo disillusioned.[4] On 2 March 1917, she took matters into her own hands and filed as a candidate for Deputy of 5th constituency of Mexico City. Gabriela Cano, historian, reported that "it was the first time that, in Mexico, a woman contended as an electoral choice". Though some records show Galindo won a majority of the votes, the Electoral College rejected her results, claiming that they were only complying with the law forbidding women. She accepted the rejection but made it clear that her purpose had been to show publicly that women could be elected and should be allowed to hold public office.[1]
Galindo's professional career came to an end in 1919 for many reasons. The first being her support of General Pablo González after the presidency of Carranza instead of General Alvaro Obregón who would succeed Carranza. [2]On top of this Galindo's progressive idea on the Church, sex education, women's rights, divorce, politics, and prostitution were radical not only to conservatives but to people of her own party.[2]She played no prominent role in the feminist movement of the 1920s and 1930s.[2]
Late-Life
In 1923, Galindo attended a Feminist Congress in the State of Tabasco[1] and organized several revolutionary clubs in Campeche, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Yucatán.[6] She married later that year and ended her political involvement.[4] She married a man by the name of Manuel de Topete and resided to a life of being a housewife and mother. [2]There is not much information to be found on Hermila Galindo after she was last seen in 1923. After she ended her involvement in politics, it was almost as if she disappeared. Not much was heard about Galindo until 1940. Some call Galindo's end of her involvement in politics an "abrupt termination."[7]
On February 7, 1940, Galindo received the Condecoración al Mérito Revolucionario (Award of Revolutionary Merit) from the Secretary of National Defense for services rendered during the first (19 November 1910 to 15 May 1911) and second periods (20 February 1913 to 15 August 1914) of the Mexican Revolution.[1] Not much was said about Galindo after this point as well. She was only heard of again at her death.
She died 18 August 1954 in Mexico City.[1]
Selected works
- La Mujer moderna (1915-1919) (in Spanish)
- Estudio de la Srita. Hermila Galindo : con motivo de los temas que han de absolverse en el Segundo Congreso Feminista de Yucatán, Noviembre 20 de 1916 (1916) (in Spanish)
- La doctrina Carranza y el acercamiento indo-latino (1919) (in Spanish)
- Un presidenciable: el general Don Pablo Gonzalez (1919) (in Spanish)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Galindo de Topete, Hermila". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ ISBN 0-313-23028-5.
- ^ Ward M. Morton, Woman Suffrage in Mexico. Gainesville: University of Florida Press 1962, p. 3.
- ^ ISBN 0-253-33504-3.
- ^ a b "Revolutionary Mexican Women in History and Film Bold Caballeros and Noble Bandidas in American Pop Culture". Arizona State University. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- ^ a b Cruz Jaimes, Guadalupe (8 March 2007). "Hermila Galindo, una feminista en la Constituyente de 1917" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Cimac Noticias. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- ^ Mendieta Altorre, Angeles (1961). "La mujer en la Revolucion Mexicana". Instituto Nacional de Estudios Historicos de la Revolucion Mexicana.
Category:1886 births Category:1954 deaths Category:Mexican feminists Category:Mexican feminist writers Category:20th-century women writers Category:20th-century writers