Juana Pereyra (8 November 1897 - 16 December 1976) was a Uruguayan

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

, and one of the first women to graduate from the Faculty of Engineering of the

Universidad de la República The University of the Republic ( es, Universidad de la República, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is Uruguay's oldest public university. It is by far the country's largest university, as well as the second largest public university in South America and t ...

Early life and education

Juana Pereyra was born in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

on 8 November 1897. At school she excelled at mathematics. After the initial opposition of her family and having to overcome the difficulties that women had to face in the professional fields of the time, she enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering of the

, graduating with high marks with the title of ''Ingeniera de Puentes y Caminos'' (Engineer of Bridges and Roads) in November 1920, making her one of the first female engineers in South America.

Career

Pereyra was a member of the Working Committee of the ''Consejo Nacional de Mujeres'' (the National Women's Council), which at that time was chaired by the feminist activist Paulina Luisi, the first Uruguayan woman to earn a medical degree in the country. In 1917, whilst still a student herself, Pereyra had started to teach mathematics and physics at the ''Universidad de Mujeres'' (Women's University). In 1924 Pereyra began working as a teacher of Bridge and Road engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad de la República. She later joined the technical team of the ''Dirección Nacional de Vialidad'' (National Roads Directorate), where she played a key part the teams working on significant projects such as the construction of the Centennial Bridge in

Paso de los Toros Paso de los Toros (''Bulls' Pass'') is a city of the Tacuarembó Department in Uruguay. History The Midland Uruguay Railway began operation in 1889 with a line that ran between Paso de los Toros and Salto. On 17 July 1903, the group of houses ...

in the department of

Tacuarembó Tacuarembó ( Guarani: ''Takuarembo'', literally: "Bamboo shoot") is the capital city of the Tacuarembó Department in north-central Uruguay. Location and geography The city is located on Km. 390 of Route 5, south-southwest of Rivera, the c ...

and bridge projects in Las Piedras, and in San Ramón over the Santa Lucia river. Her high-profile career led her to become a founding member of the Uruguayan ''Academia Nacional de Ingeniería'' (ANIU) from its foundation. Juana Pereyra died in

on December 16, 1976.

Legacy

Ing. Juana Pereyra Avenue in Montevideo was named in her honour.

References

External links

Historia de la Academia Nacional de Ingeniería ANIU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereyra, Juana 1897 births 1976 deaths University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni Academic staff of the University of the Republic (Uruguay) Uruguayan civil engineers 20th-century Uruguayan engineers Uruguayan women scientists 20th-century women engineers