Matilde Pérez Palacio Carranza (8 September 1913 – 16 August 1992) was a

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian educator, journalist and politician. In 1956 she was among the first group of women elected to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, serving until 1962, and again between 1963 and 1968.

Biography

Pérez was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

in 1913, the daughter of Matilde Carranza Valdez and Enrique Pérez Palacio and a granddaughter of , a Congressman from the 1860s to 1890s. She attended the Colegio Sagrados Corazones de Belén and earned a commercial accountancy diploma. She later attended the

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univ ...

, graduating in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, history and letters. She subsequently studied for a doctorate in history and geography, graduating in 1936, after which she worked as a professor of History and Geography at the Colegio de Belén. In 1939 she earned a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

and qualified as a lawyer in 1941. The following year she became a doctor of pedagogy. From 1941 until 1970 she served as director of the Women's Institute of Higher Studies of the Catholic University, and in 1945 founded the university's School of Journalism, serving as its director until 1972, and was a correspondent for several national and overseas newspapers. In 1956 Pérez was among the founders of Popular Action. She was a candidate in the 1956 Chamber of Deputies elections for the party and was one of first group of nine women elected to Congress.Primeras Mujeres Parlamentarias 1956-1962
Congress of Peru After entering parliament, she sat on the Press and Publications commission, the Social Assistance commission and the Women and Minors commission. Although she lost her seat in the 1962 elections, she returned to Congress following the 1963 elections, serving until the 1968 coup. After leaving Congress she became a director of the Association of Journalists of Peru, the Human Rights Commission of the Lima Bar Association and a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

representative, and was awarded the

Order of the Sun of Peru Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

. She died in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pérez Palacio, Matilde 1913 births Politicians from Lima Pontifical Catholic University of Peru alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru Peruvian women journalists 20th-century Peruvian women politicians 20th-century Peruvian politicians Popular Action (Peru) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Peru Recipients of the Order of the Sun of Peru 1992 deaths