Elena Caffarena

Elena Caffarena Morice (; March 23, 1903 - July 19, 2003) was a Chilean lawyer, jurist and politician. Contemporary historians and humanists consider her to be one of the most important 20th-century public figures in Chile.

Biography Elena Caffarena was born in Iquique, Chile, to Ana Morice and Blas Caffarena, an Italian immigrant.

Career and MEMCh Caffarena and Olga Poblete were the founders of Movimiento Pro-Emancipación de las Mujeres de Chile (MEMCh) (English: Pro-Emancipation Movement of Chilean Women) in 1938 and were honored as "founding matriarchs" by MEMCh 1983. The MEMCh fought for many different women's rights issues including, workers rights, abortion rights, breastfeeding and also decreasing infant mortality rates. The MEMCh's goal was not to completely over through the social system but to point out the flaws in the system. Caffarena herself was a major advocate for women to be financially independent from their husbands.

Selected works Capacidad de la mujer casada en relación a sus bienes (1944) Regímenes matrimoniales en Latinoamérica (1948) Un capítulo en la Historia del Feminismo. Las sufragistas inglesas (1952) El recurso de amparo frente a los regímenes de emergencia (1957) Diccionario de Jurisprudencia Chilena" (1959)