Justicia Espada Acuña Mena (January 14, 1893 – 1980) was a Chilean civil engineer. Justicia was the first woman to become a civil engineer in Chile.

Biography

Justicia Acuña Mena was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, Chile, on January 14, 1893. She was the daughter of an engineer, José Acuña Latorre. She had eight siblings. She studied at the Liceo de Aplicación and then at the Instituto Pedagógico. In 1913, she switched her studies from mathematics to

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

, and entered the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, being the only woman among all the students of that faculty. She graduated as a civil engineer in 1919, along with

Jorge Alessandri Jorge Eduardo Alessandri Rodríguez (; 19 May 1896 – 31 August 1986) was the 27th President of Chile from 1958 to 1964, and was the candidate of the Chilean right in the crucial presidential election of 1970, which he lost to Salvador All ...

.Arancibia Clavel, Patricia; Vial Correa, Gonzalo; Góngora Escobedo, Álvaro (1996). Jorge Alessandri, 1896-1986 : una biografía (1. edición). Zig-Zag. p. 53. . OCLC 36116446. In 1920, Acuña began working as a calculator in the Department of Roads and Works of the

Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado (abbreviated EFE, lit. ''State Railway Company'') is the national railway and the oldest state-run enterprise in Chile. It manages the infrastructure and operating rail services in the country. Track gauge ...

. During the course of her career at Empresa, she left a few times to raise her seven children, but always returned before retiring in 1954. Acuña died in Santiago in 1980.

Recognition

In July 1980, to honor Acuña's effort for the advancement of women, the Chilean College of Engineers established the "Gallery of Illustrious Engineers", where she was included. In 1991, the Justicia Acuña Mena Award was created; it is awarded every two years to an outstanding woman engineer in the practice of her profession. On January 14, 2021, there was a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

to celebrate her on her birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Justicia 1893 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Chilean engineers 20th-century women engineers People from Santiago University of Chile alumni Chilean civil engineers

Biography

Recognition

See also

References