María de los Ángeles Cano Márquez

María de los Ángeles Cano Márquez (Medellín 12 August 1887 – Ibid. 26 April 1967) was a Colombian poet, writer, and activist who was the country's first female political leader. Given the name "Flor del trabajo" (Flower of Labor), Cano led the struggle for civil and labor rights in Colombia. She was the leader of several workers' strikes and a co-founder of the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

Early life and education Cano was born on 12 August 1887 in Medellín in Antioquia Department to Don Rodolfo Cano and Dona Amelia Márquez, both educated and influential Radical Liberals. By 1922, she was working for the newspaper El correo liberal ("The Liberal Mail"). She was instrumental in the founding of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1926.

Death and legacy

Cano died in Medellín on 26 April 1967 at the age of 79.

In 1990, Camila Loboguerrero directed a Colombian film called Maria Cano, starring Maria Eugenia Dávila as Cano filmed in Salamina-Caldas.

In Antioquia, there is a street, two schools and a university named after Cano. In 1991, the labor organization The Flor del Trabajo Association was created in Funza. Its name was changed on 23 March 2013 to the Association Maria Cano.