Isabel Mayer

Isabel Mayer (1885-1961) was a Dominican feminist, politician and socialite from the province of Monte Cristi in the Northwest of the Dominican Republic. She was a member of the feminist group Acción Feminista Dominicana (AFD) that helped secure suffrage for women in the Dominican Republic in 1942 under dictator Rafael Trujillo. She served as a senator from her home province from 1942-1944 and also as governor of both Monte Cristi and Santiago. A number of foreign journalists referred to her as a celestina, or madam, for Trujillo during the regime.

Early life Isabel Mayer was born on February 7, 1885, to a wealthy land-owning family in the Monte Cristi province of the Dominican Republic. Her parents were Emilio Mayer and Virginia Rodríguez. She attended Welgelegen School in Curaçao. In 1909 she was crowned the queen of carnival in Monte Cristi. She married Manuel Tavárez Ramos and had one child, Carmen Isabel Tavárez Mayer, in the early 1910s but soon divorced and never remarried. In the 1920s Mayer became very involved with the incipient feminist movement, becoming the President of the local "Club de Damas." By the 1930s she was involved in the national movement for women's rights as a founding member of Dominican Feminist Action (AFD) and active participant in the collective's gatherings and events. She had also become very close with Rafael Trujillo, the leader who would become dictator from 1930 - 1961 through her prominent social connections in the northwest province of her birth.

Political career After Rafael Trujillo moved to grant women the vote in 1942, he designated Mayer one of the first senators for her provincial home of Monte Cristi. The label of celestina, or procuress, has been the most long-lasting and is included in many, if not all, Dominican publications that mention her role in the dictatorship.