María Luisa Dolz y Arango (4 October 1854 – 27 May 1928) was a Cuban writer, essayist, educator, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist.

Life and work

The daughter of Juan Norberto Dolz and María de la Luz Arango, María Luisa Dolz became an elementary school teacher in 1876 and a higher primary school teacher in 1877. She went on to earn a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1888, and graduated with a licentiate in Natural Sciences on 16 October 1890. In 1899 she completed her doctorate in the same specialty at the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

, becoming the first woman to attain that degree in Cuba. She was one of the first women to be included in secondary education at the Colegio Isabel la Católica, a level which would permit them access to a university. The school was later renamed Colegio María Luisa Dolz in her honor.

Activism

Together with

Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Arteaga (March 23, 1814 – February 1, 1873) was a 19th-century Cuban-born Spanish writer. Born in Puerto Príncipe, now Camagüey, she lived in Cuba until she was 22. Her family moved to Spain in 1836, where ...

and

Marta Abreu Doña Marta de los Ángeles González Abreu y Arencibia (13 November 1845 – 2 January 1909) was a Cuban philanthropist and one of the most influential figures of her time in central Cuba. She is recognized for her extensive charitable works in ...

, she was one of the most prominent Cuban women of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in both intellectual and social circles. She was a pioneer in the

field in her country, and undertook the defense of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), 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 c ...

, specifically the right to education.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolz Arango, Maria Luisa 1854 births 1928 deaths 19th-century Cuban writers Cuban academics Cuban women academics Cuban women essayists Cuban women activists Cuban women's rights activists University of Havana alumni Writers from Havana 19th-century Cuban women writers Cuban essayists