Google doodle is celebrating Matilde Hidalgo de Procel, an Ecuadorian pioneer of women’s rights and the first woman to vote in the Latin American elections in 1924.

Who was Matilde Hidalgo?

Matilde Hidalgo Navarro was an Ecuadorian doctor, poet, and female activist. Matilde Hidalgo was the first woman to use the right to vote in Ecuador, and furthermore the first to get a Doctorate in Medicine. Matilde Hidalgo de Procel battled for the acknowledgment of women’s rights and is presently known as one of the most significant women in Ecuadorian history.

Matilde Hidalgo de Procel was born on this day in 1889 in the city of Loja. Matilde Hidalgo Navarro turned into the first woman to graduate from a secondary school in Ecuador, the first woman to vote in an election in Latin America in 1924 and the first woman to hold elected office in her nation.

Encouraging her local Ecuador to become the first Latin American state to allow suffrage to all women, this trailblazing pioneer for women’s rights crushed through glass ceilings all throughout her whole life.

After her dad died, her mom needed to work as a seamstress to maintain them. Matilde Hidalgo de Procel learned at the school the Immaculate Conception of the Sisters of Charity.

The most youthful of six kids raised by a widowed seamstress, Matilde Hidalgo de Procel sought to proceed with her education past 6th grade. Her older sibling Antonio mentioned that his sister is permitted to go to secondary school with him, and the Director of Bernardo Valdivieso School allowed their desire. Regardless of being shunned by her companions, Procel continued on, graduating with distinction in 1913.

Matilde Hidalgo de Procel proceeded to study medicine at the Universidad del Azuay (presently known as the University of Cuenca), and the Central University, becoming the first female doctor in Ecuadorian history on this day in 1921.

By signing the register of voters in 1924, Matilde Hidalgo de Procel set up for one more “first.” When the State Council examined her right to vote, she called attention to that Ecuador’s Constitution makes no notice of gender as a necessity for voting—just citizenship, age, and education. Her contention was asserted by unanimous vote, guaranteeing that both Procel and Ecuador would stand out forever.

Matilde Hidalgo de Procel opened a lot more doors: she became the first elected councilwoman of Machala and, the first VP of the Council of Machala. After a lifetime of leadership, Procel in the long run pursued public office. In 1941, she became the first woman candidate and the first elected woman public administrator in Loja, the city that was once appalled by her desire, with the title “Assistant Deputy”.

A pioneer of women’s rights Matilde Hidalgo de Procel died in Guayaquil on February 20, 1974.

The Ecuadorian government awarded her the Medal of Merit and the Medal of Public Health, while Matilde Hidalgo de Procel’s hometown of Loja built up a museum in her respect.