María Arias Bernal

María Arias Bernal, also known as María Pistolas (1884–1923), was a schoolteacher who was an agitator in the Mexican Revolution under Francisco I. Madero, president of Mexico 1911–1913, until his assassination in a counter-revolutionary coup by Victoriano Huerta. Arias is noted for her defense of Madero's tomb in Mexico City, despite the threat of the Huerta regime.

Biography Born in Mexico City in 1884, Arias Bernal received her schoolteacher's diploma with honors in 1904. She began teaching and in 1910 became a school superintendent. Eulalia Guzmán, Dolores Sotomayor and Arias founded the Corregidor de Querétaro Vocational School with a curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic, cooking, drawing and sewing designed to help women improve their economic circumstances. Arias served as deputy headmistress for a short period of time, but soon she joined the Madero movement. She participated in the educational literacy drive and became the private secretary of Sara Pérez de Madero, As a result, the press called her "María Pistolas" (María Pistols).

Movie Maria Arias Bernal's life was immortalized in film when Maria Pistolas, a Mexican film directed by Rene Cardona, was released in 1963 by Cinematografica Filmex S.A. and Estudios America. Arias Bernal was played by Dolores Camarillo. The movie was released in the United States in 1965.