María Murgueytio Velasco (b. 1927 – d. 3 February 2016) was an Ecuadorian politician. She was the first woman in

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

to hold a mayoral office. She is also remembered for her work in

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 ...

in her term as mayor of the city of

Riobamba Riobamba (, full name San Pedro de Riobamba; Quechua: ''Rispampa'') is the capital of Chimborazo Province in central Ecuador, and is located in the Chambo River Valley of the Andes. It is located south of Ecuador's capital Quito and situated at ...

Biography

María Murgueytio was the first female graduate from

's Pedro Vicente Maldonado School and also the first woman to teach history there. She led the

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 ...

movement of

Chimborazo Province Chimborazo () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in the central Ecuadorian Andes. It is a home to a section of Sangay National Park. The capital is Riobamba. The province contains Chimborazo (volcano), Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's highest mou ...

for

during the era of the military dictatorship of

. Murgueytio was elected during the to the Municipal Council of the City of Riobamba and thus designated deputy mayor. As a result of the resignation of , who left so as to be able to run in the , as , Murgueytio took his place as mayor in 1983. Her term was characterized by the construction and opening of the parish, commemoration of Ecuadorian history and nationality via celebration of indigenous peoples, opening of new infrastructure, construction of plumbing to connect rural parishes to sewage facilities and clean water, and the guaranteeing of basic utilities to the people of Riobamba.

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murgueytio, Maria 1927 births 2016 deaths People from Riobamba Mayors of places in Ecuador Ecuadorian feminists Women mayors of places in Ecuador 20th-century Ecuadorian women politicians 20th-century Ecuadorian politicians