Hermila Galindo

Hermila Galindo Acosta (also known as Hermila Galindo de Topete) (2June 188618August 1954) was a Mexican feminist and a writer. She was an early supporter of many radical feminist issues, primarily sex education in schools, women's suffrage, and divorce. She was one of the first feminists to state that Catholicism in Mexico was thwarting feminist efforts, and was the first woman to run for elected office in Mexico.

Early life Hermila Galindo Acosta was born in Lerdo, Durango, on 2 June 1886 to Rosario Galindo and Hermila Acosta. She began her education in Villa Lerdo and then attended an Industrial School in Chihuahua learning accounting, shorthand, telegraphy, typing, as well as English and Spanish. At the age of 13, she returned home and gave private lessons in shorthand and typing to children. In 1911, she moved to Mexico City.

Biography Arriving in Mexico City, Galindo joined a liberal club and became a public supporter of Venustiano Carranza, lobbying against Porfirio Díaz. She was discovered by Venustiano Carranza while giving a speech to welcome him upon his return to the capital. He then offered her the opportunity to work with him in Veracruz. She became his private secretary and continued rallying support for the rights of Mexican women and liberal ideologies. Carranza supported her efforts, permitting her to distribute feminist propaganda in the southern Mexican states of Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatán, and in the traditionally liberal state of Veracruz, as well as Carranza's home state of Coahuila, and San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León. Carranza also appointed her as his representative in Cuba and Colombia, to publicize his policies in surrounding Latin America. Almost all of her works helped the political campaign of Carranza in some way. The magazine also featured articles which expressed her disapproval of the Catholic Church and its methods of control. She was one of the first feminists to speak out about the church and its view of women. One of her books, Un presidenciable: el general Don Pablo Gonzalez, was written about the general Pablo González Garza who was a general during the Mexican Revolution under President Carranza. Her support for Carranza was incredibly obvious because out of all her works were related to him; even the feminist magazine. Her strong support for Carranza was evident in her writings, which expressed her faith in him and his potential to create a social revolution. Through him she believed that women could get the vote and that there was hope for social reform. In the end, Carranza failed to create the change he promised. Instead, because of corruption, he was seen as an enemy of the Revolution, which left Galindo disillusioned.

On 20 Nov 2020 Galindo was added to the new Mexican 1000 peso note.

Selected works La Mujer moderna (1915–1919) (in Spanish) Estudio de la Srita. Hermila Galindo : con motivo de los temas que han de absolverse en el Segundo Congreso Feminista de Yucatán, Noviembre 20 de 1916 (1916) (in Spanish) La doctrina Carranza y el acercamiento indo-latino (1919) (in Spanish) Un presidenciable: el general Don Pablo Gonzalez (1919) (in Spanish) "Mi grano de arena en esa hermosa labor." in La doctrina Carranza y el acercamiento indolatino, pp. 159–67. Mexico 1919.