Elena Urrutia

María Elena Urritia (née Lazo de Mendizábal; January 9, 1932 – October 30, 2015) was a Mexican journalist, writer, researcher, and activist. She played a key role in starting the feminist magazine Fem. She was the fourth of six children born to conservative Catholic parents.

Early life and education María Elena Lazo de Mendizábal was born on January 9, 1932, in Mexico City, Mexico. Her father was a civil engineer while her mother was a housewife.

Urrutia studied psychology at the Ibero-American University from 1950 to 1954. She also attended seminars and classes at the National Autonomous University of Mexico without letting her parents know. In 1980, after Foppa's enforced disappearance, Urrutia took over as host of the radio program . With the support of the Ford Foundation, she also co-founded The Interdisciplinary Program of Female Studies (PIEM) on March 15, 1983, alongside Arizpe and Flora Botton, an employee of Colmex, both of whom she met through Fem. She also helped establish the Center for Psychological Studies in Colmex, led the Casa del Lago, and the Chopo University Museum.

Publications Arreola, J. J., Fernández, R. M., & Foppa, A. (1975). Imagen y Realidad de la Mujer (Image and Reality of Women). González Aralia López, Malagamba, A., & Urrutia, E. (1990). Mujer y Literatura Mexicana y Chicana: Culturas en Contacto. Volumen 2 (Mexican and Chicana Women and Literature: Cultures in Contact. Volume 2). Colegio de Mexico. Herrera, S. P., & Urrutia, E. (1997). Y Diversa de Mí Misma Entre Vuestras Plumas Ando. Homenaje Internacional a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (And Different From Myself Among Your Feathers I walk. International Tribute to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz). Colegio de México. López-González Aralia, & Urrutia, E. (1988). Mujer y Literatura Mexicana y Chicana: Culturas en Contacto (Mexican and Chicana Women and Literature: Cultures in Contact). El Colegio de México. Pitol, S., & Antúnez Rafael. (2015). Tiempo Cerrado, Tiempo Abierto. Sergio Pitol Ante la Crítica (Time Closed, Time Open. Sergio Pitol Before Criticism). Instituto Literario de Veracruz. Urrutia, E. (1992). Mujer y Sida (Women and AIDS). El Colegio de México. Urrutia, E. (1995). Las Mujeres y la Salud (Women and Health). Las Mujeres y La Salud, 9–10. Urrutia, E. (2002). Elena Urrutia, Estudios Sobre las Mujeres y las Relaciones de Género en México: Aportes Desde Diversas Disciplinas (Elena Urrutia, Studies on Women and Gender Relations in Mexico: Contributions from Various Disciplines). El Colegio de México. Urrutia, E. (January 2005). Carolina Amor de Fournier, Tipógrafa del Siglo XX (Carloina Love of Fournier, Typographer of the Century XX). Lima, Año VI No. 62, enero del 2005. Urrutia, E (2006). Nueve Escritoras Mexicanas Nacidas en la Primera Mitad del Siglo XX y Una Revista (Nine Female Mexican Authors Born in the First Haf of the Century XX and a Magazine).