María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías (30 June 1912 – 11 March 2009) was a Mexican architect who worked for close to 50 years in the Federal District 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 ...

, primarily designing single-family homes and apartment buildings. She was the first Mexican woman to graduate with a degree in architecture.

Biography

María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías was born on 30 June 1912 in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

, Mexico to Ramón Dehesa and María Luisa Gómez Farías y Canedo, daughter of the Mexican Minister in London, . She was the granddaughter of Teodoro A. Dehesa Méndez on her paternal side and great-granddaughter of

Valentín Gómez Farías Valentín Gómez Farías (; 14 February 1781 – 5 July 1858) was a Mexican physician and liberal politician who became president of Mexico twice, first from 1833 to 1834, during the period of the First Mexican Republic, and again from 1846 ...

on her maternal side. In 1933 she enrolled at the

Academia de San Carlos An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(the National School of Architecture) of the

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 her class of 113 students, only five were women and they were required to study in a separate workshop from the men. She graduated in 1937, the first Mexican woman to graduate with a degree in architecture. Her thesis, which won honorable mention from the jurors, was entitle
"''Artillery Barracks Type"''.
It was accepted in 1939 and she attained her professional designation. After she finished school, Dehesa married Manuel Millán and they subsequently had four children. She joined the Public Works Department in Mexico City and served for nearly 50 years in various divisions, primarily designing single-family homes and apartment buildings. In 1974, she was announced as a joint winner of the Ruth Rivera Prize, together with the first Mexican female civil engineer,

Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza Concepción Mendizábal Mendoza (March 4, 1893 – November 23, 1985) was a Mexican civil engineer. Mendizábal is recognized the first woman in Mexico to earn a civil engineering degree. She attended the Palacio de Minería starting in 1921 and ...

. In 2006, the College of Architects of Mexico City, honored her for her contributions. Notimex published Dehesa's memoirs, entitled ''Los Años Valientes'', with illustrations by her daughter Elizabeth Millán de Guerra, a graphic designer. Dehesa died in Mexico City in 2009.María Luisa Dehesa Architectuul profile
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Other Sources

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Bitacora Arquitectura.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dehesa, Maria Luisa 1912 births 2009 deaths Artists from Veracruz Mexican women architects National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni People from Xalapa 20th-century Mexican architects