Mary Coco Maltez de Callejas

Mary Coco Maltez de Callejas (7 March 1925 – 22 February 2016) was a Nicaraguan feminist, teacher and politician. She was a founding member of both the Union of American Women and Ala Femenina, serving as the vice president of the latter organization from its founding in 1955 to 1971, when she became President. She was one of the first three women to run for and be elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1957. After her initial election, she served in the National Assembly until 1979. Between 1969 and 1979, she served as the Minister of Education. In her latter years, she participated in the Alliance of Pan American Round Tables.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Maltez and the second or maternal family name is Huezo.
Mary Coco Maltez de Callejas
1969
Born
Pura María del Socorro Maltez Huezo

(1925-03-07)7 March 1925
Managua, Nicaragua
Died22 February 2016(2016-02-22) (aged 90)
Managua, Nicaragua
NationalityNicaraguan
Other namesMary Coco Maltez Callejas
Occupationteacher, politician
Years active1943-1979

Early life

Pura María del Socorro Maltez Huezo, known as Mary Coco, was born on 7 March 1925, in Managua, Nicaragua to Isabel Huezo and Manuel Maltez.[1][2] She was one of the founding members of the Union of American Women (Spanish: Union de Mujeres Americanas, organized by Josefa Toledo de Aguerri in 1942.[3] She graduated from the Escuela Normal Central in Managua in 1943.[4]

Career

Maltez began her career as a teacher and in 1950, married Reinaldo Santiago Jose Jimmy Callejos Callejos.[2] In 1955, along with Clementina Arcia, Gladys Bonilla Muñoz, Amelia Borge de Sotomayor, Esperanza Centeno Sequeira, Zaida Fernandez de Ruiz, Evelina Mayorga, Lucrecia Noguera Carazo, Olga Núñez Abaunza, Ofelia Padilla, and Gloria Zeledón, Maltez de Callejas founded the magazine, Ala Femenina,[5] as the press organ of the organization by the same name.[6] While a feminist organization, the group was a partisan organization and devoted to liberalism and the Nationalist Liberal Party,[5] with the majority of its members were middle-class professional women.[7] From the organization's founding, Maltez de Callejas served as the vice president, until the death of president Olga Núñez Abaunza in 1971, when she became president of Ala.[8] Maltez de Callejas was one of the most influential feminists of her era.[9]

In 1957, the first year women were allowed to vote in Nicaragua, Maltez de Callejas, Núñez, Mirna Hueck de Matamoros became the first women candidates to run for public office. Núñez was elected as a Deputy to the National Assembly and the other two women were elected as alternates.[10][11] During the Somoza regime, Ala became aligned in a power arrangement with Somoza, whereby women were increasingly given political office in exchange for their support of his regime.[12] Between 1963 and 1967, Maltez de Callejas served in the Chamber of Deputies.[13] She was appointed Vice-Minister of Education in 1967[14] and the following year was appointed as Minister of Education.[15] Between 1972 and 1974, she was a delegate to the Constituent National Assembly[16] and then served again in the Chamber of Deputies from 1974 to 1979.[17]

When the Sandinista National Liberation Front, overthrew the government of Anastasio Somoza DeBayle, Maltez de Callejas went into exile for a lengthy period of time. She returned to Managua in 2001 and was involved in organizing the Alliance of Pan American Round Tables,[18] continuing her involvement in the organization through 2013.[19]

References

Citations
  1. Nicaraguan Birth Records 1925, p. 226.
  2. Nicaraguan Marriage Records 1950, p. 133.
  3. González-Rivera 2011, p. 177.
  4. Pérez-Valle 2016.
  5. González-Rivera 2011, p. 72.
  6. González-Rivera 2011, p. 69.
  7. González-Rivera 2011, p. 74.
  8. González-Rivera 2011, p. 75.
  9. El Nuevo Diario 2010.
  10. University of California 2017.
  11. Membreño Palacios 2012.
  12. González-Rivera & Kampwirth 2010, p. 57.
  13. Ferrey Rivera 2015, p. 9.
  14. La Gaceta 1968, p. 1602.
  15. National Assembly 1969.
  16. Ferrey Rivera 2015, p. 10.
  17. Ferrey Rivera 2015, p. 11.
  18. Lara de Gutiérrez 2001.
  19. Bolsa de Noticias 2013.

Bibliography
  • Ferrey Rivera, Pablo (2015). "Las mujeres en los cuerpos legislativos nicaragüenses (1957-2014)" [The women of the Nicaraguan legislative body (1957-2014)] (PDF) (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: National Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • González-Rivera, Victoria (2011). Before the Revolution: Women's Rights and Right-wing Politics in Nicaragua, 1821-1979. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press. ISBN 0-271-04870-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • González-Rivera, Victoria; Kampwirth, Karen (2010). Radical Women in Latin America: Left and Right. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press. ISBN 0-271-04247-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Lara de Gutiérrez, Graciela (7 March 2001). "Actividades de la Mesa Redonda Panamericana" [Activities of the Pan American Round Table]. La Prensa (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Membreño Palacios, Chimenea (29 September 2012). "El voto femenino y la mujer liberal" [The feminine vote and the liberal woman]. La Prensa (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Pérez-Valle, Eduardo (7 February 2016). "Antecedentes Históricos de la Normal de Señoritas" [Historical Background of the Women's Normal School]. Nicaragua: Desde El Mirador de Nuestra Historia (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Apruébase Planes de Estudios para las Carreras de Artes Industriales, Educación para el Hogar y Educación Comercial" [Approved Study Plans for the Careers of Industrial Arts, Education for the Home and Commercial Education]. National Assembly (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: República de Nicaragua. 17 December 1969. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  • "Comuníquese" [Communication] (PDF). La Gaceta (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: República de Nicaragua. LXXII (118): 1602. 28 May 1968. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017. 19 de Diciembre de 1967. Mary Coco Maltez de Callejas, Vice-Ministro de Educación Pública
  • "La evolución histórica de los derechos de las mujeres en Nicaragua" [The historical evolution of women's rights in Nicaragua]. El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  • "Nicaragua: Elections and Events 1937-1970". Latin American Election Statistics. La Jolla, California: University of California, San Diego. 2017. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  • "Nicaragua, Matrimonios 1950: Reinaldo Santiago Jose Jimmy Callejos Callejos / Pura María del Socorro (Mary Coco) Maltez Huezo". FamilySearch (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: Archivo del Registro Civil del Departamento de Managua. 1 June 1950. FHL digital folder #4164374, Vol.2, certificate #436. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  • "Nicaragua, Nacimientos, vol 72C, ene-jun 1925: María del Socorro Maltez". FamilySearch (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: Archivo del Registro Civil del Departamento de Managua. 7 March 1925. FHL digital folder #4190339, Book 72-C, certificate #593. Retrieved 20 November 2017. "En Managua, á dia de siete de marzo de mil novecientos veinticinco..." (In Managua, on the day of March 7, one thousand nine hundred twenty-five...)
  • "Senses Pésames" [Heartfelt Condolences] (in Spanish). Managua, Nicaragua: Bolsa de Noticias. 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
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