Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo

Anita Zapata
Born	Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo 22 June 1915 Izucar de Matamoros, Puebla, Mexico
Died	28 February 2010 (aged 94) Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico
Nationality	Mexican
Occupation	politician, feminist, suffragette
Years active	1935–1961
Known for	1st female federal delegate from Morelos

Anita Zapata, short for Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo (1915-2010) daughter of General Emiliano Zapata, was a suffragist who fought for the vote for Mexican women and was the first female federal representative from the state of Morelos.

Biography

Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo was born on 22 June 1915 in Izucar de Matamoros,^[1] Puebla, Mexico to Emiliano Zapata^[2] Salazar and Petra Portillo Torres.^[1] Because her father was murdered when she was four and the family was persecuted by his enemies, Anita was taken to live with family members in Chietla, Pueblo.^[3] From a very young age, Zapata was interested in politics and understood that her family name could open doors and gain access for beneficial causes.^[3]

At a very young age, Anita began working for feminist causes and joined the Unión de Mujeres Americanas (Union of American Women),^[3] which had been founded in 1934 by Margarita Robles de Mendoza.^[4] The UMA Chapter of Morelos was founded in 1935 with Zapata as its president. She organized women to fight for the vote in Morelos, recruited women from Guerrero to join and served as the president of the Puebla chapter as well as the Morelos chapter. She also joined the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PNR) (the precursor to PRI) and fought for the vote from within the ranks of the party,^[3] becoming president of the Asociación Nacional Femenina Revolucionaria^[5] the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI)'s women's affiliate.^[6]

In 1946, she married Manuel Manrique, with whom she had seven children:^[1] Isaías Manuel, Beatriz Ofelia, María del Carmen, Julieta Ana María (Fanny), Lina Martha, and twins Hermenegildo and Justino. Zapata served in many local political organizations, as treasurer of the ejido of Cuautla, as ejidataria of Cuautla, as municipal councilor and municipal trustee.^[5] From 1958 to 1961, she served as the first female federal representative from the state of Morelos^[7] as a PRI representative in the XLIV Federal Legislature.^[3]

Zapata died on 28 February, 2010 in Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico.^[2]

References

1. Magdaleno Vega, Francisco (6 February 2012). "Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo Ce – Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl Heroe Cultural Morelense" (PDF). Memoria de Enero del 2009 a Enero del 2012 (in Spanish) (Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto Mexicano De Ciencias Y Humanidades): 143. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
2. "La hija del general Emiliano Zapata murió el domingo en Cuautla" (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: CNN Mexico. EFE. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
3. Montes-de-Oca-O’Reilly, Alejandra (March 2014). "The General’s Daughter: Ana Zapata, Mexican Suffragist, and Agent of Social Change" (PDF). American International Journal of Social Science (Colfax, Louisiana) 3 (2): 65–70. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
4. Jaiven, Ana Lau (January 2009). "Entre ambas fronteras: tras la igualdad de derechos para las mujeres". Política y cultura (in Spanish) (Mexico City, Mexico: SciElo, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana) (31). ISSN 0188-7742. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
5. Baltazar, Fernando (1 March 2010). "Murió Ana María Zapata Portillo, última sobreviviente reconocida por El Caudillo" (in Spanish). Morelos, Mexico: La Jornada Morelos. Archived from the original on 3 March 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
6. Soler, Dolores Sǹchez (2003). La educacin̤ superior y el desarrollo local (in Spanish). Mex̌ico: ANUIES. p. 71. ISBN 978-9-707-04052-6. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
7. Montes-de-Oca-O’Reilly, Alejandra; Chavarría, Anahí (January 2014). "Some Reflections on the Mexican Suffragist Movement: a Case Study of Senior Women’s Leadership" (PDF). International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (Colfax, Louisiana) 4 (2): 90. Retrieved 1 August 2015.