María Rivera de Olmedo

A Peruvian educator who founded Latin America's first women's university in 1886.

María Rivera de Olmedo (1845–1921) was a Peruvian intellectual and suffragist who revolutionized women's education in the Andes. Born in Arequipa, she became the first woman to graduate from the National University of San Agustín, defying 19th-century gender norms. Her 1878 essay 'The Rights of Women' criticized Peru's exclusion of women from higher education.

In 1886, Olmedo founded the Instituto Nacional Femenino, later renamed the National University of San Marcos for Women. This institution offered courses in philosophy, law, and medicine, training over 500 female professionals by 1900. She also established Peru's first women's library, collecting over 2,000 books on feminist thought.

Her work faced opposition from conservative elites, but she gained support from President Nicolás de Piérola. Olmedo's 1892 collaboration with Chilean educator Clara Hartmann expanded her influence across the Andean region. By 1910, her model inspired similar schools in Ecuador and Bolivia.

Today, the Universidad María Olmedo in Arequipa bears her name. Historians credit her as a pioneer of Latin American feminist pedagogy, though her contributions are often eclipsed by figures like Simón Bolívar in regional narratives.