María Jesús Alvarado

Peruvian feminist pioneer who founded first women's school in 1914

María Jesús Alvarado Rivera (1878–1971) challenged Peruvian patriarchal norms through educational activism. She established Escuela Moral y Trabajo in 1914, teaching women literacy, vocational skills, and physical education – revolutionary concepts when 90% of Peruvian women were illiterate.

Her 1914 play "El Diablo en el Hogar" (The Devil at Home) dramatized domestic violence, leading to police censorship. In 1923, she organized Peru's first feminist conference demanding voting rights and labor equality. Temporarily exiled in 1924, she continued advocating through underground publications.

Alvarado pioneered anthropological studies of Indigenous Quechua communities, documenting Andean women's roles in pre-Columbian societies to counter colonial narratives. Lima's Museo de la Mujer preserves her original manuscripts and suffragist banners.