Women's political rights (1929)

This map was originally published in Uruguay in 1929, as part of Paulina Luisi's booklet entitled Planisphere showing the current status of women's political rights around the world.

Paulina Luisi was possibly the most important Uruguayan suffragist of the first half of the 20th century. Throughout her life, she not only fought for women's right to participate in politics, but also actively campaigned against pimping and prostitution, as well as in favour of sex education in schools. Among other achievements, she became the first woman to study medicine in Uruguay and also established the National Women's Council and the Women's Alliance.

This map is part of his campaign to secure women's votes in Uruguay. To this end, it shows all the countries in the world where women have some political rights (in white) and those where they do not (in black), including Uruguay. To make the map more effective as a means of pressure, Luisi chose to show all countries with partial rights (such as Spain and China) in white, as well as some regions where women had already made some progress (such as Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil and San Juan in Argentina).

In 1932, women were finally granted the right to participate in general elections in Uruguay. This was enshrined in the constitution in 1934 and exercised for the first time in the 1938 elections.

Sources

• Paulina Luisi – 1929 – Planisphere