In 1995, of the more than 2200 street names in the Federal Capital, only 24 carried the names of women. The Commision of Urban Nomenclature, of the ex Consejo Deliverante proposed choosing a sample of representative women from all eras and professions to name the streets of the new ‘Barrio 47’ (Puerto Madero). Only 14 women’s names were chosen at first, and in 1997 another 16 were added. Here is a brief review of these women who formed the country and gave their lives in search of a new society, in politics, medicine, culture and the social sphere.

Macacha Quemes 1787 – 1866

Magadalena Machacha) Guemes de Tejada. Sister fo General Martín Miguel de Guemes.
Born in Salta, she participated significantly in the fight for independence. She received the normal education for women of her era, but possessed qualities that enabled her to stand out in high society. During the May Revolution (Revolución de Mayo) she converted her house into a factory for making clothes for the soldiers fighting for the ‘Observacion’ party, led by her brother. Equipped with political abilities, she put these at the service of her brother Guemes. She was with him when they were attacked by a battalion of the Realista party, in Salta on the 7th of June 1821, wounding him, and resulting in his death.
Macacha was much loved by the people due to the generosity with which she helped the needy.

Rosario Vera Pañaloza 1873-1950

Teacher and writer.
Born in the town of Atiles, in Rivadiavia, La Rioja, she dedicated her life to teaching. She founded the first nursery school in Argentina. The National Council of Argentina entrusted her with the formation of the first Argentine Museum of primary education, now the Museum Complex of the Felíx Bernasconi Institute. After an admirable career, she became inspector of Secondary Education (normal and special). She died on the 28th of May, 1950. This is the date that was chosen to commemorate in her honor, the ‘Day of the nursery school teacher’ and the ‘Day of the nursery schools’. Her written works include ‘El hombre que rehusó el Olimpo’, ‘Los hijos del sol’, ‘Historia de la Tierra’, Un Viaje accidentado’, ‘Cuentas y Poemas’ y ‘Penasmientos breves sobre juegos educativos’.

Julieta Lanteri 1873-1932

Doctor and pioneer of the rights of women
Born in Italy, she specialized in mental illnesses in women and children. She participated actively in the defense of women’s rights. She was the creator of the first feminist party, the sixth woman to graduate in medicine in the country, and the first Italian woman to achieve a university degree in Argentina. She founded, together with Cecillia Grierson, the Argentine University Association.
En 1919, she discovered that although the constitution denied women the vote, it did not prevent them standing for election. She formed her own grouping, and stood as a candidate for Parliament. Together with Alicia Moreau, she supported a mock election, that was the object of ridicule.

Pierina Dealessi 1894 – 1983

Actress
Born in Italy, she was one of the most important actresses in Argentina. At the age of 15 she started to work in the theatre ‘El Nacional’. She was also one of the great stars of Argentine cinema in her time. In total, she worked in 14 films, such as; ; ‘Adios Argentina’; ‘Puente Alsina’, ‘Una porteña optimista’; ‘Pantalones cortos’; ‘Fúlmine’; ‘Mosquita muerta’ y ‘El centroforward’.

Emma de la Barra 1861 -1947

Writer and health campaigner
A society woman, she undertook various activities linked with the artistic world. She supported the creation of the Red Cross, and was also known as the ‘lady of a thousand houses’. The first Argentine best seller, ‘Stella’, was written by a woman [ella?] but published under the name of a man, César Duayen.

Elvira Rawson de Dellepiane 1867 – 1954

Doctor and Dama Patricia
A woman of marked personality, she did important work for the cause of patriotic independence. She was president of the Society of Charities. An Argentine doctor by profession and from the heart, in her time she was one of the most important fighters for the rights of women. When in 1890, the revolution exploded, Elvira demonstrated her courage attending the wounded and victims of both sides. She was the founder and also the director of the first ‘Colony for weak children’ in Uspallata in 1916. The association for the Rights of Women in Argentina was founded thanks to her initiative,

Juana Manuela Gorriti 1816-1892

Teacher and writer
Born in Salta, she studied in the convent of the Salesian Nuns of Salta, then traveled to La Paz, where she married Don Manuel Isidoro Belzú, military leader of Bolivia, who became president and was assassinated. After the revolution in this country, she moved to Lima and built herself a position and literary renown amongst the most outstanding intellectuals of Peru, from where she developed activities in the fields of literature, teaching and society. A woman of independent opinions, and a highly cultured, she dedicated herself to teaching and to literature, publishing numerous stories, and also gaining recognition in Spain and France. Her most well known works are: ‘Mecenas, Sueños y Realidades´, ‘El Callao’ and ‘Lo intimo’.

Manuela Sáenz 1797 -1856

Important fighter for independence
Born in Ecuador, she devoted herself to the fight for (Latin) American independence. She played an important role in the Revolution, and the liberation of her country from colonialism. Her contribution to the initiation of the Quito Revolt in 1809 was enormous. She knew General Juan José Flores, and the liberator Simón Bolívar, to whom she was a faithful lover and companion.

Martha Salotti 1899 -1980

Teacher and writer
A disciple of Rosario Vera Peñaloza. She was president of the International Association of books for children and young people, and an outstanding figure in the cultural life of Argentina. As professor of Natural Sciences she not only founded the ‘SUMMA institute, but also the Argentine section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). In this context Martha, who was the legal representative in Argentina fo the poet Gabriela Mistral, was also known as an writer of children’s stories and pedagogical texts.

Encamación Ezcurra 1795-1838

Heroine of the Santa Federation
An outstanding protagonist of the politics of Argentina at the dawn of the revolution and the fight for independence. Wife of Juan Manuel de Rosas. She was a fervent collaborator with her husband, to whom she was devoted. She worked in difficult circumstances, making herself essential in the management of both governmental and commercial matters. Her intervention was decisive in the so called ‘Revolution of the Restorers’, in 1833, which brought the Government of Balcarce to the ground, and prepared Rosas’ ascent to power. She enjoyed enormous popularity among the people, whom she protected and supported, receiving them in her house. She was known as the ‘Heroine of the Santa Federacion’.

Olga Cossettini 1898-1987

Teacher and writer
Born in Rafaela, in the province of Santa Fe, she was an outstanding teacher. She organized the first experimental school in Santa Fe. She spent her infancy in the countryside, and graduated as a ‘Normal rural’ teacher in Coronda. She undertook radical reforms in the educational program, based in new teaching techniques, which were presented at the teaching congress of ‘normal’ provincial schools. The resistance to her ideas obliged her to ask for a transfer. She wrote numerous pedagogical works including ‘El Niño y su Expresion´ ‘El lenguaje y La lectura en Primer Grado’ y ‘Sobre un Ensayo de Escuela Serena el la Provincia de Santa Fe’. She also edited a collection of pedagogical work for the publishers EUDEBA of the University of Buenos Aires.

Juana Manso 1819 – 1875

Teacher and writer
Promoter of the reforms initiated by Dormingo F. Sarmiento. She was at the vanguard regarding both education and women. She dedicated herself to journalism, literature and history.
After passing some years in Uruguay, Cuba, Brazil and the United States, she finally returned to Argentina in 1854, where she supported the creation of public schools and libraries, as well as the emancipation of women. Among her work such well known works as ‘La familiar del comendador’ and ‘Los misterios del Plata’. can be found. She also compiled the history of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata.

Alicia Moreau de Justo 1885 – 1986

Political leader, doctor and journalist.
Born in London, England, she distinguished herself as a fervent fighter for feminism. She founded the National Feminist Union, that demanded female suffrage. She published various books, and edited the socialist magazine ‘La Vanguaria’. Throughout her whole life she fought for human rights in Argentina. A graduate in mediciene, she was one of the first women to intergrate herself into the political sphere. In 1902 she created, alongside other companions, the socialist feminist centre, building the foundations for the recognition of female equality in Argentine society.

Azucena Villaflor 1924 -1977

Founder of the ‘Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo’
Born in Avellanada, when her son Nestor, a member of the young Peronists, and his girlfriend Raquel Mangin were kidnapped by the dictatorship in 1976, Azucena began to search for them. Together with other mothers in similar circumstances, she founded the group ‘Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo’, in order to protest publicly. She was kidnapped on the 10th of December 1977, in the corner of her house, by a secret unit of the Navy. It is known that she was at one point in the ESMA (the naval mechanical school where many of the ‘disappeared’ were taken), and believed that following this she was assassinated, and dropped in the sea, by the so called ´flights of death´.

Regina Pacini de Alvear 1871 – 1965

Singer and benefactress
From a family of musicians, she appeared on the world’s most important stages. She married Marcelo T. de Alvear, who would be President of the Republic. In 1927 she created the ‘Casa de Teatro’ and became its honorary president.

Petrona Eyle 1866 – 1945

Doctor and outstanding feminist
Born in Switzerland, she belonged to a group of pioneers in medicine, developing outstanding work in defense of women’s rights. She was a pioneer of the Latin American feminist movement. Petrona obtained her doctorate in Medicine in Switzerland in 1891. In 1893 she returned to Argentina, where she was one of the founders of the Association of Argentine Universities. She also created the ‘League against the White Slave Trade’, and the magazine ‘Our Cause’, the journal of the feminist movement. Her work was fundamental in obtaining the right to vote for Argentine women.

Cecilia Grierson 1859 -1934

The first female doctor in Argentina
Born in Buenos Aires, her family cultivated countryside in Entre Rios and she trained as a rural teacher. At this point, no woman had dared to undertake a degree in medicine. After overcoming the initial obstacles, she obtained her degree in 1889. She began to work in the Hospital San Roque (today Ramos Mejía), and set up her surgery. Shortly afterwards she founded the first school of nurses, and in 1892, did the same with the Argentine society of First Aid. In 1899 she went to London, invited by the International Congress of Women, who entrusted her with the foundation of their Argentine branch, achieved the following year. Subsequently she studied methods for treatment of the blind, and those with hearing and speech problems, and established the Institute of the Blind in Buenos Aires. In Paris she assisted at the best clinics for Obstetrics and Gynaecology. She fulfilled roles related to her profession, and published works such as ‘The education of the blind’ and ‘Caring for the sick’. She retired to live in Los Cocos, Córdoba, and donated to the area a school and a house of rest for teachers and artists.

Carola Lorenzini 1899 – 1941

Sportswoman and outstanding aviator
She excelled in several sports, Duch as swimming, rowing, and athletics. However, she gained renown as an aviator, and promoter of the Cordoba airplane factory. In 1931 she was accepted into the Argentine Aero Club, where she obtained her license as a civil pilot. She specialized in air acrobatics, undertaking moves never seen before in the country. As well as standing out for her social sense, she was the first woman to make a solo flight across the Rio de Plata. She died in 1941 in the Morón Aerodrome, trying to carry out an acrobatic maneuver.

Victoria Ocampo 1890 -1979

Writer of internacional importance
Born in Buenos Aires, when she was a child her family moved to France, where she was educated by Governesses and attended courses at the Sorbonne. With an ample cultural education, her work transcended the world of letters, projecting her into the cultural movement of her age. Her strong personality led her to stand out in the fight for women’s rights. She founded the magazine ‘Sur’. Due to her political ideas and opposition to the Peron government, she was imprisoned for a time. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Harvard, and designated a member of the Argentine Academy of Letters, the first woman to be admitted. She was also president of the Directorate of the ‘Teatro Colon’, and founder of the Argentine union of women. Her most known works include Diálogo con Borges’, ‘Tagore en las barrancas de San Isidro’ y ‘Testimonios’.

Aimé Painé 1943 – 1987

Tehuelche-Mapuche singer
‘The first step to being educated is to know who you are’
This quote belongs to Aimé Painé, who was the last Mapuche princess, and one of the first defenders of indigenous rights. Through her singing she pioneered the diffusion of the traditions and culture of her people. She gave recitals throughout the whole of the country and Latin America, rescuing Mapuche history from oblivion.

Trinidad Guevara 1798 – 1873

First great actress of the national theatre
Born in Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, she was the leading actress of the theatre ‘Coliseo’, and admired by the public. She interpreted the leading female roles in works of the independence era, and was the trainer of great artists.

Marta Lynch 1932 -1985

Teacher and writer
Outstanding writer of novels and short stories. In her long career, she obtained important national and international prizes. In 1962 she published her novel ‘La alfombra roja’ (the red carpet), which brought her fame and recognition. Other important works are Cuentos Tristes (1967), Un árbol lleno de manzanas (1973), Los dedos de la mano (1976) and La colorad aVillanueva o Los años de Fuego (1978). Her horror of old age drove her to suicide.