Dolores Jiménez Y Muro
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Dolores Jiménez y Muro (June 7, 1848 – October 15, 1925) was a Mexican schoolteacher and revolutionary. A native of
Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes Aguascalientes (, lit. "hot waters" in Spanish language, Spanish) is the capital of the Mexico, Mexican state of Aguascalientes, the same name and its most populous city, as well as the head of the Aguascalientes Municipality; with a population ...
,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, she rose to prominence during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
as a
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
activist and reformer and as a supporter and associate of General
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; 8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the insp ...
.


Biography

Dolores Jiménez y Muro was born June 7, 1848, in Aguascalientes, Mexico, but while young her family moved
San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...
. She grew up in the upper middle class of San Luis Potosí, where her father was a senior government official. The family had many liberal friends and from her childhood Jiménez was exposed to foreign and liberal ideas. She had no formal schooling, studying at home, but was encouraged to pursue her talent for poetry. In 1874, she was invited by the state government to read her poems at an official celebration of the September independence festivals. These poems were later collected into a book and published as ''Un rayo de luz'' (A Ray of Light). In 1883 Jiménez lost both of her parents and she began teaching school. She became aware of how easily one could fall into poverty or become exploited.


Pre-Revolutionary radicalism

Dolores Jiménez published in La Esmeralda and La Sombra de Zaragoza and by 1902 had become the director of La Potosina Magazine. She continued to teach in the rural school system until 1904, when she moved to Mexico City. She published articles against the regime of
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
and was arrested. In prison, she met Elisa Acuña Rossetti, Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza, and Inés Malváez. From prison, the woman began publishing a radical journal, ''Fiat Lux''. In 1905, she joined the staff of the ''La Mujer Mexicana'' (Mexican Women) for whom she worked until 1908. She also published articles in ''Diario del Hogar'' (Newspaper of the Home). In 1907, Acuña, Belén and Jiménez y Muro founded the "Daughters of Anahuac", a group of about three hundred libertarian women, who demanded improved working conditions for women and advocated labor strikes. In 1908, Jiménez founded, with Acuña, Belén, and Jose Edilberto Pinelo, a worker's organization in Mexico City called "Mexican Socialism." They continued to publish the newspaper ''Fiat Lux'', as the voice of an organization called the Mutual Society for Women. In 1910, Jiménez and others founded the Club Femenil Antirreeleccionista Hijas de Cuauhtémoc (Anti-Reelectionist Women's Club: Daughters of Cuauhtémoc). The club, including members Mercedes Arvides and Julia Nava de Ruisánchez staged a demonstration in Mexico City on 11 September 1910 protesting election fraud. These activities and a failed attempt at rebellion by supporters of Arriaga resulted in the arrest of Jiménez, Acuña, Belén, and María Dolores Malváes and their imprisonment at
San Juan de Ulúa San Juan de Ulúa, now known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa, is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico. Juan de Grijalva' ...
fortress in the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
.


Revolutionary radicalism

In prison in 1911, Dolores Jiménez continued to be politically active in jail and founded ''Regeneración y Concordia''. Through this she sought to further the changes that she desired to see in Mexico. She envisioned a country where there were significant improvements to the economy and land reforms. She also wanted changes to improve the living conditions of women and indigenous people. ''Regeneración y Concordia'' had feminist aims which her partners, Acuña, Belén and Sara Estela Ramírez joined her work. In March, 1911, Francisco I. Madero called for demonstrations in Guerrero, Michoacan, Tlaxcala, Puebla and Campeche, and Jiménez organized the protests. She was a notable contributor to the Complot de Tacubaya, which sought to depose President
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
in favor of Francisco I. Madero. She is credited with writing "The Political and Social Plan", published on March 18, 1911, which outlined the ideas and aims of the conspirators. The "Plan" advocated a continuation of the demands the Mexican Liberal Party had made in 1906, including fair wages, affordable housing, improved working conditions, and curbs on foreign investment. It also promoted the decentralization of the country's education system, on the premise that a school's needs are best met when it is locally funded and controlled. Unlike earlier revolutionary theorists, however, Jiménez insisted that wage should be increased for women as well as for men. She also insisted that foreign firms operating in Mexico should be required to have at least half of their workforce made up of Mexicans. After the plan was read in Mexico City on 31 October 1911, interim president Francisco León de la Barra had Jiménez arrested. In spite of her age, (she was 61 and most of her compatriot revolutionaries were in their 20s), she was refused release until she staged a hunger strike. She realized that Madero was not a supporter of the radical reforms she supported and switched her loyalty to
Emiliano Zapata Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; 8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the insp ...
. In 1913, she joined the Zapatista forces and developed the prologue to the Plan de Ayala. She directed the newspaper ''La voz de Juárez'' from which denounced the coup led by
Victoriano Huerta José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 23 December 1850 – 13 January 1916) was a Mexican general, politician, engineer and dictator who was the 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of ...
to overthrow Madero. Zapata appointed her to a position of brigadier general but that was insufficient to prevent an eleven-month imprisonment ordered in 1914 by Huerta. She was released from prison and rejoined Zapata until his assassination in 1919.


Post-revolution

Between 1921 and 1924, Jiménez worked in the
Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
's Cultural Missions program. She died on October 15, 1925, in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, at the age of 75.


Selected works

*''Un rayo de luz'' *''Al inmortal Hidalgo'' *''En el Aniversario'' Published in The Shadow of Zaragoza. Official Gazette of the State, September 15, 1874 p. 3 Volume. No. VIII, p. 787 *''Crepúscuo'' Published in: Joaquín Antonio Peñalosa, San Luis Potosí Literature XIX century, San Luis Potosí, SLP, Eds. UASLP 1991, pp. 272–273


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez y Muro, Dolores People of the Mexican Revolution Mexican rebels People from Aguascalientes City Mexican revolutionaries Mexican feminist writers 1848 births 1925 deaths Mexican socialists Women in the Mexican Revolution