Mercedes Sandoval de Hempel (February 8, 1919 – February 7, 2005) was a Paraguayan lawyer and feminist. She was one of the leading proponents of women's suffrage in the country, drafting the ' (Bill partially amending the Civil Code). In 1992, the amendment of the Paraguayan Civil Code finally recognized equality between men and women. The wording of Article 1 of Law 704/61 was simple: “” (It is hereby recognized that women have the same political rights and obligations as men.)

Career

A graduate from the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción, she specialized in labor and civil law and then in family law, women and minors. Sandoval founded the Paraguayan League for the Rights of Women () and the Paraguayan Association of University Graduates (), serving as chair of both organizations. She also created the , the and the , and was adviser to the Paraguayan Committee for Cooperation with the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM-OAS) (), among other feminist institutions. CLADEM (Comité de América Latina y El Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer; Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Defense of Women's Rights) Paraguay nominated Sandoval as a candidate for the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005" as a part of the PeaceWomen Across the Globe initiative. Sandoval was married, but the couple separated after eighteen years. They had one child, Anna Mercedes Hempel Sandoval, who became a teacher. Sandoval suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair before her death in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

in 2005.

Honors

*Distinction of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM-OAS) *Soroptimist International Club recognition, the Guairá Lawyers Forum of the Association of Secretaries of Paraguay and Lions Club *Candidate ''1000 Mujeres para el Premio Nobel 2005'', nominated by the Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Defense of the Rights of Women (2005) *Parliament distinction, postmortem, Congressional of Women Paraguay (2012)

Selected works

* ''Anteproyecto de Ley de Reforma Parcial del Código Civil'' (1989) * ''El derecho de la familia en el Paraguay: estudio realizado en el Centro Paraguayo de Estudios de Población para el Grupo Parlamentario Interamericano sobre Población y Desarrollo'' (with Nelly Obregón de González & Alicia Pucheta de Correa; 1986)

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandoval de Hempel, Mercedes 1919 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Paraguayan lawyers Paraguayan women's rights activists Paraguayan feminists People from Asunción Universidad Nacional de Asunción alumni Paraguayan women writers Paraguayan women lawyers 20th-century Paraguayan women writers 20th-century Paraguayan writers 20th-century women lawyers