María de la Cruz Toledo (September 18, 1912 – September 1, 1995) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an political activist for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, a journalist, a writer, and a political commentator. In 1953, she became the first woman ever elected to the

Chilean Senate The Senate of the Republic of Chile is the upper house of Chile's bicameral National Congress, as established in the current Constitution of Chile. Composition According to the present Constitution of Chile, the Senate is composed of forty ...

Early life

De la Cruz was born in Chimbarongo, Chile, the daughter of Marco Aurelio de la Cruz and Edicia Toledo. She studied at the Colegio Rosa de Santiago Concha and the Liceo Nº5 of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. From a very young age, she wrote articles and poems. In 1940, she published a book of poems (''Transparencias de un Alma''), and in 1942, a short novel (''Alba de Oro''). She was also the publisher and editor of the magazine ''Luz y sombra'' (''Light and Shadows''), dedicated to promote culture among and understanding of blind people. As a radio journalist, she made a name for herself in Radio "Nuevo Mundo", where her daily magazine program ''María de la Cruz habla'' (''María de la Cruz Speaks Out'') was a great success.

Political career

Through her radio program and her writings, she focused on increasing the political participation of women in politics and exposed the struggle of Chilean women to obtain the right to vote. In 1946, de la Cruz founded the Feminine Party of Chile. These actions were the culmination of a long struggle that began in 1913 and ended in 1949, when President

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; 22 November 1898 – 22 August 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1930 ...

signed the law that granted the right to vote in all elections to women in Chile. The Feminine Party grew up very quickly among middle-class and working women. In 1948, de la Cruz ran for a senate seat, but even though she had the support of

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as president twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. E ...

, she lost the election. During the 1952 presidential election, she became Ibáñez's campaign manager. After he won the presidency, he offered her a position in his cabinet as Minister of Education, but she refused, nominating instead María Teresa del Canto from her own party. Ibáñez then backed her as a candidate to replace him in the senate. She also obtained the support of the Partido Democrático de Chile, the Movimiento Nacional Independiente, the Organización de Mujeres Independientes, the Movimiento Nacional Ibañista, and her own Partido Femenino, being elected senator on January 4, 1953, the first woman ever to reach the Chilean senate. She won with 107,585 votes to the runner-up's 68,350, the highest margin ever obtained at that point. She was duly sworn in and took her place on February 13, 1953. Nonetheless, her political career ended abruptly a few months later. Her powerful oratory gained her suspicion and enmity from all political sectors. Three women accused her to be involved in the smuggling of watches from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. These accusations grew until they became the Watches affair. On August 4, 1953, she was indicted and stripped of her position for "abusing her position for personal gain", even though the congressional investigation had voted against that measure. The affair eventually dissolved and nothing was ever proved against her. There seems to be little doubt now that the accusations were politically motivated in order to remove her from Congress.

Aftermath

The impact of her fall quickly affected her party and it started to dissolve almost immediately. By 1954, it had ceased to exist. In the 1958 presidential election, she supported

Jorge Alessandri Jorge Eduardo Alessandri Rodríguez (; 19 May 1896 – 31 August 1986) was the 26th 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 A ...

, and in the 1964 presidential election, Jorge Prat, but she never managed to regain her former political influence. Eventually, she joined the National Party and was one of the leaders behind the empty-pots movement against

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 1970 until Death of Salvador Allende, his death in 1973 Chilean coup d'état, 1973. As a ...

. She continued her radio program until 1978, when she retired. She died in

at the age of 83 in 1995.

External links

Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Maria de la 1912 births 1995 deaths People from Colchagua Province Members of the Senate of Chile Chilean feminists Chilean women journalists Chilean women poets Chilean democracy activists Chilean suffragists Chilean women novelists 20th-century Chilean women writers 20th-century Chilean novelists 20th-century Chilean poets 20th-century Chilean women politicians 20th-century Chilean politicians Women members of the Senate of Chile National Party (Chile, 1966) politicians Chilean anti-communists

Early life

Political career

Aftermath

See also

External links