Raquel Dzib Cicero

Raquel Dzib Cicero (1882-1949) was a teacher and Mexican feminist. She was an early member of the Socialist Party of the Southeast and one of the first three women elected to a legislative body in Mexico. She taught for over fifty years and was still teaching at the time of her death.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Dzib and the second or maternal family name is Cicero.
Raquel Dzib Cicero
Born1882
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
Died14 March 1949
Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
NationalityMexican
OccupationEducator
Years active1898-1949
Known forOne of the first three female elected politicians in Mexico

Biography

Raquel Dzib Cicero was born in 1882 in Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico to Justo Pastor Dzib and Francisca Cicero. In spite of her family's poverty, Dzib was determined to improve her education. She enrolled in the Instituto Literario de Niñas (ILN) (Literary Institute for Girls)[1] under the direction of Rita Cetina Gutiérrez.[2] Dzib graduated as a teacher in 1898 and taught at several schools throughout the state, including her alma mater. Her specialties were arithmetic, the Spanish language and line drawing, and she held the Chair of Castilian grammar at the Adolfo Cisneros Cámara Secondary School.[1]

She participated in the First Feminist Congress of Yucatán which occurred in 1916 in Mérida under the auspices of governor Salvador Alvarado.[3] The Liga de Profesores (Teacher's League) was formed in 1918,[4] and Dzib served as its treasurer, scrupulously accounting for the funds.[1] In 1922, she helped found the Feminist League of Yucatán, as part of the Socialist Party of the Southeast with Elvia Carrillo Puerto, Beatriz Peniche de Ponce, Rosa Torre González, Adolfina Valencia and Consuelo Zavala.[5]

On November 18, 1923, three candidates who were members of the Liga Rita Cetina Gutierrez (League of Rita Cetina Gutiérrez) were elected to the local legislature as candidates of the Socialist Party of the Southeast. Dzib was elected as the representative of the third district of the City of Mérida, Elvia Carrillo Puerto was elected in the District of Izamal, and Peniche was elected in the second district of Mérida. Their triumph at the polls was short-lived, as the women were forced out when governor Felipe Carrillo Puerto was assassinated in 1924.[6] Dzib withdrew from politics after the assassination and dedicated her life to education.[1] She was later elected a member of the jury of honor and justice for the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) (National Union for Education Workers).[7]

When she had reached 50 years of teaching, Dzib was awarded a gold service medal. In her honor, the government of Yucatán awards the Raquel Dzib Cicero Medal annually to all teachers who have reached 30 years of uninterrupted service. Dzib died 14 March 1949, in Mérida, and was still teaching at that time.[8]

References
  1. Cervantes Pérez, Erika (12 June 2012). "Raquel Dzib Cicero" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Cimac Noticias. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. Machuca, Graciela (19 November 2013). "Mujeres precursoras revolucionarias. Rita Cetina: Y la discriminación feminista" (in Spanish). Quintana Roo, Mexico: Noticaribe. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
  3. "El voto femenino, resultado de movimientos a favor de equidad" (in Spanish). Mexico City: Cimac Noticias. 15 October 2004. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. "La Educación en Yucatán: Las Primeras Décadas del Siglo XX y la Revolución" (in Spanish). meridadeyucatan.com. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  5. Ramírez, Rubén Reyes (1996). Poesías completas (in Spanish). Mérida, Yuc., México: Eds. de la Univ. Autónoma de Yucatán. pp. 17–27. ISBN 968-6843-99-X. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  6. Peniche Rivero, Piedad. "Efemérides del Triunfo de la Lucha por el Sufragio Femenino" (in Spanish). Mérida, Mexico: Del Archivo General de Yucatán. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  7. "Dzib Cicero, Raquel". National Autonomous University of Mexico (in Spanish). Fuente Secundaria: Diccionario Porrúa. Historia, biografía y geografía de México. 1997. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  8. Pineda Xochipa, Fatima (6 January 2014). "Mujeres sobresalientes durante el siglo XIX" (in Spanish). La Mujer en el siglo XIX. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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