Matilde Hidalgo

Matilde Hidalgo Navarro de Procel was an Ecuadorian physician, poet, and activist. Hidalgo was the first woman to exercise the right to vote in Latin America, and also the first to receive a Doctorate in Medicine. Hidalgo fought for the recognition of women's rights and is one of the most important women in Ecuadorian history. In 1973 she was paralyzed by a stroke, and she died in Guayaquil on February 20, 1974.