Ángela María Alessio Robles y Cuevas (30 March 1917 - 27 April 2004) was a Mexican

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 i ...

and town planner. In the late 1940s and 1950s she was Director General of Planning for the capital of

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, and then the President of Planning and Director of the Plan for Urban Development in the city. She later moved to

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

and oversaw the development of the Macroplaza there, one of the largest plazas in the world and the largest in Mexico.

Early life and education

Ángela María Alessio Robles y Cuevas (known as Ángela Alessio Robles) was born in Mexico City on 30 March 1917, one of four children of Espinosa Como Cuevas Trinidad and General Vito Alessio Robles. Her mother was of

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...

heritage and her father was a military officer, engineer and academic of Italian and Tlaxcaltec descent who played a key role in the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

(1910 - 1920). The couple had met when her father was sent on a military campaign to subdue the Yaqui peoples in the state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

and had married in 1906. In 1938, Alessio Robles entered the Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros (School of Engineering) in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Five years later she graduated as a civil engineer, having written a thesis ''Control y regularización de las corrientes del Valle de México: proyecto de los muros de retención para las presas escalonadas (''Control and regularisation of the currents of the Valley of Mexico: a project for the retaining walls for the staggered dams)''.'' She was the fourth woman to graduate from the institution. In 1946, Alessio Robles studied for a Master of Science degree in Planning and Housing at

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, New York.

Career

In the mid-1940s, she taught mathematics at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, a preparatory school for

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

in Mexico City for a short time. In 1948, she began work as Director General of Planning in the Mexican capital, later becoming President of Planning and Director of the Plan for Urban Development in the city. During her time in these positions, the Law of Urban Development and the Regulatory Plan of Mexico City were finalised, and a link was established with the

State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...

to find joint solutions to shared problems and to anticipate growth as the city developed into a conurbation. Significant construction projects were undertaken in the capital during her tenure, including the Torre Latinoamericana, the

Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez Autodromo or Autódromo is an Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Spanish language, Spanish word for race track. It may refer to: * Autódromo de Benguela, Benguela, Angola * Autódromo Chiapas, Berriozábal, Chiapas * ...

, the Centro Médico La Raza hospital complex, road development and housing developments for state workers. She was later Secretary of Urban Development of the State of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

and oversaw the construction of the Macroplaza in the heart of the city of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 1980s. It is one of the largest plazas in the world and the largest in Mexico, covering 400,000 square metres and hosting monuments, smaller plazas and gardens.

Honours and commemoration

* In 1965, she was named Woman of the Year. * In 1968, she received the Legión de Honor Mexicana. * In the 1970s, she was named Woman of the Decade. * She was a member of the College of Civil Engineers of Mexico, and president of the Environment Committee in 1992. * Calle Ángela Alessio street in the borough of Álvaro Obregón in Mexico City, is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robles, Angela 1917 births 2004 deaths 20th-century engineers Mexican civil engineers Mexican women engineers 20th-century Mexican women People from Mexico City Women engineers Mexican engineers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni