Elvia Carrillo Puerto was a Mexican suffragist, feminist, and activist born on December 6, 1878. She grew up in Motul, a small city within the state of Yucatan along the southern border of Mexico. Her parents were Adela Puerto Solís and Justiniano Carrillo Pasos. They gave birth to fourteen children:
Enriqueta Palma Puerto, Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Hernilda Campos Palma, Josefa Balbina Carrillo Puerto, José Gualberto Carrillo Puerto, Eraclio Carrillo Puerto, Audomaro Carrillo Puerto, Graciano Acrelio Carrillo Puerto, Edesio Carrillo Puerto, Alejo Benjamín Carrillo Puerto, Joaquina Angelina Triay Esperón, Wilfrido Carrillo Puerto, and Anselma Carrillo Puerto.
She was born into a lower class home where the scarcity of basic necessities such as being able to afford their home, food, and water resulted in her siblings and her taking jobs to be able to afford it. Being exposed to this at a young age allowed her to recognize the disparity between the rich and the poor leading her to take initiative on the issue.
Puerto started attending a secular school at the age of 6 where she was able to learn Mayan and Spanish. Within her journey of education she encountered Rita Cantina Gutierrez, who was a poet and founder of the first secular high school located in Yucatan. Due to her teachings, Puerto developed many of the ideologies she wrote in her poetry such as gender equality and female rights. Apart from Rita Cantina Gutierrez, Elvia was also inspired by her brother Felipe and a pastor known as Serafin Garcia. Felipe encouraged Elvia to receive an education and pastor Serafin Garcia motivated her with teachings of helping those less fortunate through compassion and understanding.
Due to the popularity of child marriages during the 1800’s leading into the 1900’s, Elvia Carrillo got married to her husband Vicente Perez Mendiburu, a teacher in her hometown, at the age of 13. She believed that in order to gain any sort of independence she had to marry and have someone help her, given the route she wanted to embark on as an activist. She was married all throughout her adolescence and during this time she became pregnant with her son, Marcial Perez Puerto. Unfortunately, later at the age of 21, she was widowed due to the death of her husband. As a young widowed mother she began to work as a typing teacher, which allowed her to be financially stable and exposed her to the clear patriarchy that existed in the workplace over women, especially regarding a difference in wages and lack of respect.
Underappreciated Leader: Elvia Carrillo Puerto 