Raymunda Torres y Quiroga ( pen names, Madre Selva, Elena Matilde Wili, Matilde Elena Wili, Matilde Elena Wuili, Leopoldo, Luciérnaga, Estela and Celeste) was an Argentine writer and women's rights activist. She defended access to education and the

emancipation of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

in Argentina.

Biography

Raymunda Torres y Quiroga was born in

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ...

. No biographical data is known about her. She frequently used

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s to sign her articles, including "Madre Selva", which she used to publish in ''El correo de las niñas'' from 1877. Through the magazine, ''La Alborada Literaria del Plata'', she had a confrontation regarding her published writings with Josefina Pelliza de Sagasta who opposed Torres y Quiroga's ideas about education and the position that women should adopt in society. In ''El Indiscreto'', a newspaper published in Montevideo, Torres y Quiroga published writings under the pseudonym "Elena Matilde Wili" and sometimes "Matilde Elena Wili" but she also used, "Leopoldo", "Luciérnaga", "Estela", and "Celeste". Under the pseudonym "Matilde Elena Wuili" or "Wili", she published stories with her ideas about the emancipation of women, and included the topic of

femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russ ...

. Through tales of the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

published in ''La Ondina del Plata'' and in ''El Álbum del Hogar'', she wrote about women and the femicide to which they were subjected.

Selected works

* ''Entretenimientos literarios'' of Matilde Elena Wili. Buenos Aires: Imprenta Colón, 1884. * ''Historias inverosímiles'' of Raimunda Torres y Quiroga. Temperley: Train in Motion, 2014. * ''Cecilia'', short story published in ''El Indiscreto''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torres y Quiroga, Raymunda Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 19th-century Argentine writers 19th-century Argentine women writers 19th-century births Argentine women's rights activists Fantasy writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers