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In 1941, she became the first woman candidate and the first elected woman public administrator in Loja, the city that was once horrified by her ambitions.
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Matilde opened many more doors: she became the first elected councilwoman of Machala and, the first vice-president of the Council of Machala. The issue was put under ministerial consultation, eventually ruling in her favor, and in 1924, Matilde Hidalgo becomes the first woman in Latin America to exercise her constitutional right to vote in a national election. Two years later, Matilde married the lawyer Fernando Procel, and they had two children named: Fernando and Gonzalo Procel, Fernando was a doctor while Gonzalo was an architect.ĭuring the presidency of José Luis Tamayo, Matilde announced that she was going to vote in the next presidential elections. Eventually Matilde graduated with honors and continued her studies at the University of Cuenca, obtaining a Doctorate in Medicine in 1921, making her the first Ecuadorian woman to receive such a title.
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Nevertheless, her mother staunchly defended her daughter. Reaction in the community was not very good: mothers prohibited their daughters from befriending her, the local priest forced her to listen to mass two steps outside the church’s entrance. Angel Rubén Ojeda, after thinking about it for a month, agreed. Antonio made the request to the secular high school Colegio Bernardo Valdivieso. Upon graduating from sixth grade, Matilde told her older brother Antonio of her wish to continue studying.