Sarah Méndez-Capote y Chaple was a Cuban writer, poet, translator,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

activist. She was the sister of writer Renée Méndez Capote.

Life and work

The daughter of Domingo Méndez Capote and María Chaple y Suárez, she published some of her poetic work in ''Revista de la Habana'' in the early 1930s. She also contributed to the avant-garde journal ''

Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

'' and to ''

El Fígaro El Fígaro was a Cuban magazine published in Havana from 1885 to 1929, with irregular publications continuing until 1933. It began as a sports magazine, but evolved into a more general interest consumer magazine and became "the driving force of t ...

''. As a

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist, she was one of the founders of the Lyceum on 1 December 1928, one of the "most cultural and intellectual" feminist organizations of the era, formed by her sister

Renée Renée (without the accent in non-French speaking countries) is a French feminine given name and surname. Renée is the female form of René, with the extra "e" making it feminine according to French grammar. The name Renée is the French for ...

, Berta Arocena de Martínez Márquez, Carmen Castellanos, Matilde Martínez Márquez, Carmelina Guanche, Alicia Santamaría, Ofelia Tomé, Dulce Marta Castellanos, Lilliam Mederos, Rebeca Gutiérrez, Mary Caballero, María Josefa Vidaurreta, and María Teresa Moré. The group advocated for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. It became a lobbyist institution in Cuba's parliament and organized several feminist events in the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez Capote, Sarah Year of birth missing Year of death missing Cuban journalists Cuban suffragists Cuban women poets Cuban women journalists