Lagrimas Untalan

Lagrimas Leon Guerrero Untalan (1911–1997) was a Guamanian educator and politician. Alongside Cynthia Torres, she became one of the first two female members of the Legislature of Guam in 1954.

Lagrimas Untalan
Member of the Legislature
In office
1954–1956
Personal details
Born1911
Hagåtña, Guam
Died1997

Biography

Untalan was born Lagrimas Pereira Leon Guerrero in Hagåtña in 1911, the youngest of seven children of Mariana and Francisco Leon Guerrero.[1] After leaving school she became a teacher, a job in which she pushed for greater use of the Chamorro language in education.[1] During her career she assisted the Fijian educational authorities with developing its curriculum.[1] She also translated Stand Ye Guamanians into Chamorro.[1] She married a fellow teacher Luis Palomo Untalan in 1950. Their son Ramon died in infancy, after which the couple adopted two children.[1]

In the 1954 elections for the Guamanian Legislature she ran on an independent ticket alongside Torres and Carlos Taitano.[2] Their campaign meetings saw female attendees pelted with eggs and accused of prostitution. However, all three were elected, with Untalan finishing seventh and Torres fifteenth,[3] becoming the first women in the Legislature.[2] In 1956 she was one of the founders of the Territorial Party.[1]

Untalan retired from teaching in 1970, after which she continued her community work. She died in 1997.[1]

References
  1. Lagrimas Leon Guerrero Untalan Guampedia
  2. Cynthia Johnston Torres Guampedia
  3. Election Comparative Analysis Report Guam Election Commission
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