Francisca Matilde Carranza Volío, better known as Matilde Carranza was a Costa Rican activist and teacher. She was the first Costa Rican woman to receive a doctorate in philosophy.

Life

Matilde Carranza was born on January 6, 1892, in San José, Costa Rica and baptized on 7 February 1892. Her parents were Francisco Carranza and Petronila Volío. She was one of the leaders of the teacher's strike of 1919 against the labor policies of President Federico Tinoco Granados, which culminated in setting fire to the government newspaper office, ''La Información''. The strike, led by

Ángela Acuña Braun Ángela Acuña Braun, also known as Ángela Acuña de Chacón, (2 October 1888 – 10 October 1983), a Costa Rican lawyer, women's rights pioneer and ambassador, was the first woman to graduate as a lawyer in Central America. Orphaned at the a ...

included teachers like

Ana Rosa Chacón Ana Rosa Chacón (1889 – 28 March 1985) was a Costa Rican educator, health education practitioner, feminist and suffragette. In 1953, in the first election held after women became enfranchisement, enfranchised in Costa Rica, Chacón became one ...

, Lilia González,

Carmen Lyra Carmen Lyra (January 15, 1887 – May 14, 1949) was the pseudonym of the first prominent female Costa Rican writer, born María Isabel Carvajal Quesada. She was a teacher and founder of the country's first Montessori school. She was a co-founder ...

, Victoria Madrigal, Vitalia Madrigal, Esther De Mezerville, María Ortiz,

Teodora Ortiz Teodora ( sr, Теодора) is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Theodora. Notable people with the name include: *Teodora Sava (born 2001), Romanian singer *Teodora Albon (born 1977), Romanian football referee *Teodora Ginés, (15 ...

, Ester Silva and Andrea Venegas. In 1920, she went with Lyra and González to Europe to learn the

Montessori education The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...

model so that it could be implemented in Costa Rica. From the early 1930s, Carranza was furthering her studies in the United States, and continued for almost a decade graduating with a doctorate in philosophy from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1940. Her graduate thesis, ''El pueblo visto a través de los Episodios nacionales'' was published in Costa Rica in 1942. After graduation, she began teaching at

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, often called St. Mary's, is an unincorporated community in Sugar Creek Township in northwestern Vigo County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The community is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. A large p ...

Life

References

Further reading