Berta Lutz born - August 2, 1874

On this day in 1874, scientist and women's rights activist Berta Lutz was born. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Stay in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey guys, welcome to this Day in History class,
where we bring you a new tidbit from history every day.
Today is August second, nineteen. The day was August second eight.

(00:27):
Barretta Maria Julia Lutz was born in South Paulo, Brazil.
Lutes is remembered as a dedicated feminist and diplomat and
accomplished scientists. Barrett was born into an upper middle class family.
Her mother was Amy Fowler, a British nurse who had
cared for people with leprosy in Hawaii. Adolpho Lutes, Barta's

(00:49):
father was a Swiss Brazilian physician and epidemiologist who specialized
in tropical medicine. Barrette went to primary school in Brazil,
but she traveled to Europe to finish her studies. She
attended the University of Paris Sorbone, studying natural sciences and
concentrating on zoology. In nineteen eighteen, she received a degree

(01:12):
in biology from the Sorbone. After she graduated, she returned
to Brazil. In nineteen nineteen, she took a high civil
service post as secretary at the National Museum of Rio
de Janeiro, But while in Europe she had been paying
attention to the suffragists and gained interest in the struggle
for women's right to vote. In Brazil, she began advocating

(01:37):
for women's suffrage and equal access to education in public office.
Though she did not believe that the militant actions of
suffragists in Britain would work in Brazil, she did believe
that women needed to organize in their fight for rights.
She published a call to Brazilian women which said, in part,
I am proposing the establishment of a League of Brazilian Women,

(02:00):
and I am not proposing an association of suffragettes who
would break windows along the streets, but rather of Brazilians
who understand that a woman ought not to live parasitically
based on her sex, taking advantage of man's animal instincts,
but rather be useful, educate herself and her children, and

(02:20):
become capable of performing those political responsibilities which the future
cannot fail to allot her. Lutes began serving as director
of the Administrative Commission in the League of Brazilian Women,
an organization that was established in nineteen nineteen and had
the motto aid and Elevate women, but Loots would go

(02:41):
on to found her own organization. Together with a teacher
and author named Maria Leserga ji Mura, she established the
League for the Intellectual Emancipation of Women in nineteen twenty.
Unlike other organizations and publications that emphasized Christian morality and
we're feel and thropic, the League was secular and did

(03:02):
not take a charitable approach. It focused on employment and
suffrage and promoted women's intellectual freedom through rational and scientific education.
Its program was publicized through articles in the press, petitions,
and proclamations. In ninete, the name of the organization was
shortened to the League for the Emancipation of Women, and political,

(03:26):
legal and economic issues took precedent over intellectual freedom. In
nineteen two, LUTs traveled to Baltimore, Maryland as Brazil's delegate
to the Pan American Conference of Women. There she consulted
feminists and suffrage leaders on strategies for the movement in Brazil.
She was elected vice president of the Pan American Association

(03:48):
for South America, and when she went back to Brazil,
she established the Brazilian Federation for the Advancement of Women,
which had representatives from all of the Brazilian states, women's
professional organizations, and social action and charity groups. The organization
focused on and was supported by middle and upper class

(04:09):
women in urban areas and some impoverished women, as many
were illiterate and therefore ineligible to vote, were turned off
of the organization and Loots for this reason, but the
Federation did have programs and initiatives that helped lower class women,
including ones that focused on shorter working hours, health issues

(04:29):
for rural women, and access to secondary education for girls.
The campaign for women's right to vote was contentious, even
among Latin American feminists, who did not all agree on
the value of the vote to their cause or were
more concerned with other social and economic issues. Either way,
Loots continued to campaign for women's suffrage, established more organizations,

(04:53):
and take more leadership positions. She worked on the drafting
committee for Brazil's new constitution, which was adopted in nineteen
thirty four and women gain the right to vote. She
got a law degree in nineteen thirty three. She entered
into politics, but the establishment of the dictatorial Estado Novo

(05:13):
or a New State, ended women's participation in electoral politics.
The women's movement lost momentum and people were split over
the effectiveness of Lutz's leadership. She turned her attention back
to her patology. Lukes became director of the Botanical Section
of the National Museum, a position she held until she

(05:34):
retired in nineteen sixty four. She died in nineteen seventy six.
Several species of frauds and lizards are named after Verita Lutz.
I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. Get more
Notes from History on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at t

(05:57):
d I h the podcast We'll see you here in
the same place tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heeart Radio,
visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.