Thelma Curling Rodríguez
Theresa Curling Rodriguez | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Parliament of Costa Rica | |
| In office 1982–1986 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 February 1933 San José, Costa Rica |
| Alma mater | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Profession | Judge, Lawyer |
Thelma Curling Rodríguez (born 19 February 1933) is a jurist and politician from Costa Rica. She is a defender of women's rights and was the first woman of Afro-Costa Rican descent to become a member of the Parliament of Costa Rica.
Early life and education
[edit]She was born in the Costa Rican capital San José and attended elementary school in the Escuela España and high school in the Colegio Superior de Señoritas.[1] Following she studied law in the University of Costa Rica and became a lawyer in 1959.[1] Influenced by her Afro Costa Rican descent, she chose Limón to work as a lawyer.[1]
Professional career
[edit]Having arrived in Limon, she became a teacher from 1960 to 1962.[1] As a lawyer she represented the banks Banco Nacional de Costa Rica and Banco Crédito Agrícola of Cartago.[2] In the province of Limon she was a judge in several courts.[3] Internationally, she represented Costa Rica in the Commission on the Status of Women of the United Nations between 1971 and 1988[2] and took part in women rights related congresses in Tunisia, Brazil or Mexico.[3] In Switzerland she attended an exhibit on Women Peasants from Costa Rica with the writer Carmen Naranjo and in South Africa she took part in the Black Women Congress in 1995.[3] In 2014 she was elected the president of the Workers Union of Women of Costa Rica.[4] In 2021, she was one of the women portrayed during the exhibit Impronta Femenina Costa Rica 1821–2021 in the Museo de Jade in San José.[5]
Political career
[edit]Between 1970 and 1974 she acted as the Municipal President of the Canton Limón[6][7] and between 1982 and 1986 she was a member of Parliament as the first women of Afro Costa Rican descent,[6][8][9] and also the first woman to represent the province of Limón.[3] She is a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN) for which she led the women's branch for eighteen years.[6]
Political position
[edit]A known defender of women's rights, she encouraged women from Limón province to take part in the political process, be it as a voters or present to themselves as candidates.[2] She also demanded better education conditions for women.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Afrodescentientes de Valía" (PDF). UNICEF (in Spanish). Limon, Costa Rica: Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). 2010. p. 26.
- ^ a b c d "Afrodescentientes de Valía", p. 28
- ^ a b c d "Afrodescentientes de Valía", p. 27
- ^ "Logros Femininos a traves de la historia" (PDF). Boletin Invormativo. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
- ^ "Museo del Jade de Costa Rica resalta los aportes de las mujeres al país". SWI swissinfo.ch (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-08.
- ^ a b c Hernández, Hortensia. "Thelma Curling Rodríguez abogada, jueza y lideresa política de Costa Rica". Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Cedillo Delgado, Rafael (2020), p. 259
- ^ Parnass, Sarah (3 April 2018). "Analysis | Epsy Campbell Barr is Costa Rica's first female black vice president". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ Cedillo Delgado, Rafael (2020). "Representación política de indígenas y afrodescendientes en América Latina" (PDF). Toluca, Mexico: Instituto Electoral del Estado de México. pp. 259, 264.