Adela Van Severen de Contreras (1909 – December 9, 2007) was a Salvadoran politician, recognized as the first woman to serve as mayor in all of El Salvador. Born in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

in 1909, Van Severen was educated in the United States. She then settled in the city of Santa Tecla with her husband, José Luis Contreras, and became involved in municipal politics. In 1954, she was chosen to take over the term of incumbent Santa Tecla Mayor José Marcos Biguer, and the following year she was elected directly, becoming the first female mayor in El Salvador. Women had fully earned the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

in El Salvador only five years prior, under the Constitution of 1950. Among her accomplishments as mayor was overseeing the pavement of the city's streets. She served in the post until 1958. Van Severen remained in Santa Tecla until her death in 2007, at age 98. A park in Santa Tecla was named in her honor in 2015.

References

1909 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Salvadoran women politicians 20th-century Salvadoran politicians Mayors of places in El Salvador Women mayors of places in El Salvador People from San Salvador People from Santa Tecla, El Salvador {{ElSalvador-mayor-stub