Mexican journalist and activist
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. To become financially independent and continue her studies, Urrutia obtained a job at a kindergarten and would later work for a cinematographic teleproduction company.
Career.
In the 1970s, Ramón Xirau invited Urrutia to collaborate on his program, "The Books of the Day" (Los Libros del Día), which was transmitted from Radio Universidad, where Urrutia spoke about books written by women or on feminist topics. Later, Urrutia began writing about women in the paper "The Sun" (El Sol). She was also among the founders of the tabloid newspaper "Unomásuno" (One Plus One), where she wrote about women and covered topics such as interviews and critiques. She also played a role in the creation of Mexico City's daily newspaper, "La Jornada" (The Working Day), where she wrote about general cultural topics.
Urrutia temporarily worked in a cultural center belonging to UNAM, House of the Lake (Casa del Lago), where she organized the first cycle of conferences focused on topics important to women. Urrutia created her first compilation, "The Image and Truth of Women" (Imagen y Realidad de la Mujer), and published it in 1975 by utilizing the World Conference on Women, 1975 (Conferencia Mundial Sobre la Mujer de 1975), which was hosted in Mexico City. She would go on to meet Alaíde Foppa, who helped her to publish the first feminist magazine, "Fem", in 1976 alongside Elena Poniatowska, Marta Lamas, and Lourdes Arizpe. While the push for women's rights was well underway at the time, "Fem" became the first printed forum to advocate for women's rights. Through her magazine, Urrutia met renowned feminists Lourdes Arizpe and Flora Botton, who worked for Colmex, and with the support of the Ford Foundation, their collaboration led to the establishment of an institution known as The Interdisciplinary Program of Female Studies (PIEM) on March 15, 1983. Urrutia focused on women and covered topics such as gendercide, abortion, women and power. She also helped establish the Center for Psychological Studies in Colmex, led the Casa del Lago, and the Chopo University Museum.
Her dedication to human rights and women was evident through her literary workshops, which focused on Mexican feminism.
Death.
Urrutia died of cardiac arrest on October 30, 2015, in her home in Mexico City.
References.
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