María Álvarez de Guillén facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
María Álvarez de Guillén
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Álvarez de Guillén in 1929
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| Born |
María Álvarez Ángel
1889 El Salvador
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| Died | 1980 (aged 90–91) El Salvador
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| Other names | María Álvarez de Guillén Rivas, Amary Zalvera |
| Occupation | Coffee plantation operator, writer |
| Known for | Women's rights activism |
| Children | [[Marta Guillén Álvarez Alvaro Guillén Álvarez]] |
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María Álvarez de Guillén (1889–1980) was a Salvadoran businesswoman, writer, and a strong supporter of women's rights. She used the pen name Amari Zalvera. She was one of the first women in El Salvador to publish a novel. María also helped start the Inter-American Commission of Women, which worked for women's equality across the Americas.
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Early Life of María Álvarez
María Álvarez Ángel was born in El Salvador on August 24, 1889. Her parents, Julia Ángel Macias and Rafael Álvarez Lalinde, moved to El Salvador. They joined her uncle Emilio to start a coffee business.
The family first lived in San Salvador. Soon after, they moved to Quezaltepeque, about ten miles away. Here, they lived on the "Colombia" coffee farm. Her father, Rafael, managed the farms "Colombia" and "Santa Isabel." He also set up the first water-powered machine to process coffee in El Salvador.
When María was eight, her family moved to Santa Ana. She went to the Colegio de la Asuncion school there. After graduating, she married Dr. Joaquin Guillén Rivas in 1914.
María Álvarez's Career and Activism
Over the next few years, María had five children. She continued to work on her family's coffee plantation. Besides raising her children, she was active in charity work and social programs. She also strongly supported the movement for women's right to vote.
Fighting for Women's Rights
María was one of the women who helped win the right for women to vote. This right was included in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America. When this Republic ended in 1922, María started a group called the Sociedad Confraternidad de Señoras de la República de El Salvador. This group worked to get voting and nationality rights for women in El Salvador.
María wrote articles about social issues and politics. Her first book, La Hija de Casa (Daughter of the House), was published in 1926. It won second prize in a national writing competition. This book was also the first novel published by a woman in El Salvador.
Work with the Inter-American Commission of Women
In 1928, the Pan American Union created the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM). This group's goal was to study and compare women's civil and political equality in different countries. María was chosen as one of the first delegates to the CIM. Other delegates included Doris Stevens from the United States and Ernestina A. López de Nelson from Argentina.
María worked hard to gather information for the CIM. For ten years, she urged the government of El Salvador to change its laws. She wanted to protect women's citizenship rights. This meant that women should not lose their nationality when they got married. She also fought for women to have equal civil rights as men.
Continued Writing and Later Life
María continued writing throughout her career. She wrote several plays and another book that was not published. Her second published novel, Sobre el puente (Over the Bridge), came out in 1947. This book told a love story mixed with the history of Panama's relationship with Colombia and the United States.
She also kept working in coffee production. In her later years, she published a book of poems called El pregón del café (The Proclamation of Coffee). She retired from the coffee farm in 1965, leaving the work to her daughter. As she got older, María lost her eyesight.
Death and Legacy
María Álvarez de Guillén passed away in 1980. She was buried in the Cementerio de Los Ilustres in her family's tomb. Her letters to Doris Stevens, written during her time with the CIM, are kept at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Her daughter, María "Marta" (born in 1915), became a famous opera singer.
Selected works
- La Hija de Casa (Daughter of the House, 1926)
- Sobre el puente (Over the Bridge, 1947)
- El pregón del café (The Proclamation of Coffee)
See also
In Spanish: María Álvarez de Guillén para niños
