Lía Lafaye
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lía Lafaye Torres (7 June 1898 – 11 June 1985) was a Chilean teacher and politician.
- Female Party of Chile
(until 1951) - Progressive Female Party
(1951–1958)
Lía Lafaye | |
|---|---|
| |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 15 May 1953 – 15 May 1957 | |
| Constituency | 22nd Departamental Grouping |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 June 1898 |
| Died | 11 June 1985 (aged 87) |
| Party |
|
| Spouse(s) | Sandalio Prieto Méndez Óscar Muñoz Quijada (m. 1952) |
| Children | None |
| Parent(s) | Luis Lafaye Paul Leonor Torres Suárez |
| Education | Law; Pedagogy (French) |
| Occupation | Teacher and politician |
She served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies between 1953 and 1957 and is recognized as the second woman deputy in Chile, following Inés Enríquez Frödden and María de la Cruz.[1]
Biography
She was born in Antofagasta to Luis Lafaye Paul and Leonor Torres Suárez.[1]
She studied law and subsequently pedagogy, qualifying as a French teacher. She taught in various schools and private institutions in Valdivia, where she also worked as secretary of the local municipality.[1]
She married Sandalio Prieto Méndez in Santiago, and later entered into a second marriage with Óscar Muñoz Quijada on 12 March 1952 in Valdivia. The couple had no children.[1]
Lafaye was a founding member of the *Agrupación Femenina de Solidaridad Social* in Valdivia, which created a night school for adult women and a Women’s Polytechnic School.[1]
Political career
She initially belonged to the Female Party of Chile, serving as provincial president in Valdivia before joining the newly formed Progressive Female Party in 1951. Ideologically, she aligned with leftist movements.[1]
In the 1953 Chilean parliamentary election, she was elected deputy for the 22nd Departamental Grouping (Valdivia, La Unión and Río Bueno) for the 1953–1957 term.[1] She served on the following permanent and special commissions:
- Social Medical Assistance and Hygiene (1953–1955)
- Special investigative commission on activities in Chile by elements linked to American dictatorships (1954–1955)
- Special investigative commission on irregularities in the State Maritime Company (1956)[1]
She co-sponsored several motions that became law, including:
- Law No. 11,600 (1954) — Municipal loan for La Unión
- Law No. 11,832 (1955) — Municipal loan for Río Bueno
- Law No. 12,008 (1956) — Creation of a free port in Punta Arenas[1]
She represented Chile at the First Latin American Women’s Conference (Rio de Janeiro, 1953), at meetings of the Women's International Democratic Federation in Geneva, and at the World Peace Assembly in Helsinki (1955). She also traveled to Lausanne, the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China as part of official delegations.[1]
After leaving the Chamber in 1957, she organized the First Latin American Women’s Congress in Santiago (1959) and became president of the Unión de Mujeres de Chile in 1960. That same year she was invited to Cuba by the government of Fidel Castro as part of a delegation of notable Latin American women.[1]
In the 1961 Chilean parliamentary election, she ran as a candidate for Valdivia with the National Democratic Party but was not elected.[2]