Born: 22 May 1846, Mexico
Died: 11 October 1908
Country most active: Mexico
Also known as: NA
Mexican educator, writer and feminist Rita Cetina y Gutierrez advocated for women’s education in Mérida, Yucatán. With Gertrudis Tenorio Zavala and Cristina Farfán, she helped found a school, literary society and periodical, all called La Siempreviva. In addition to teaching and serving as director at La Siempreviva school, she also led the Girls’ Literary Institute, a public school, in the late 1870s and 1880s.
Her writing output includes poetry, short stories, plays and a novel, Julia, one of the first known novels to have been published by a Mexican woman.
Following her death, her student Elvia Carrillo Puerto co-founded the Rita Cetina Gutiérrez Feminist League.