Teresa Flores
Teresa Flores | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 4, 1890 |
| Died | October 5, 1952 (aged 62) Santiago, Chile |
| Other names | Compañerita |
| Occupation(s) | Labor leader and feminist activist |
Teresa Flores (January 4, 1890 – October 5, 1952), known as Compañerita,[1] was a Chilean labor leader, feminist, and founding member of the Chilean Socialist Workers' Party.[2]
Biography
Teresa Flores was born in Iquique, Chile, in 1890.[3] Her mother, María Flores y López, was a seamstress; her father's identity was not recorded.[2][3]
In 1912, Flores was the only woman among the founders of the Socialist Workers' Party in Iquique.[1][2][4]
She became associated with the prominent Spanish anticlerical and anarchist activist Belén de Sárraga, who visited Chile in 1913.[1][2] After Sárraga's departure, the Belén de Sárraga Anticlerical and Free Thought Center was established in Iquique, following one created in Antofagasta, and Flores invited women of all ages to join.[1][2][5] She served as secretary and later president of the center.[1] Expanding throughout the saltpeter mining communities and to cities like Valparaíso, the Sárraga centers focused on anti-alcohol activism, promoting modern ideas in youth education, and anticlericalism.[1] At their first conference on May 17, 1913, held at the offices of the newspaper El Despertar, they proposed creating a Women's Federal Council within the Federación Obrera de Chile (FOCH), which was realized a few years later.[1][2]
Flores and other women set up housewives' committees at the mining camps, organizing a kitchen strike to protest food shortages, the presence of weevils, contaminated flour, and other grievances.[1][2] The women refused to cook, forcing the men to support them in their demands.[1][2] If anyone attempted to light the stoves, the strikers would put them out by throwing water down the chimneys.[1][2]
In 1922, Flores became the first woman to join the Federal Executive Council, the highest tier of leadership of the FOCH.[2][6]
From 1912 (perhaps earlier) until his death in 1924, Flores was partners with the Chilean labor leader Luis Emilio Recabarren.[6][7] After being widowed, she was featured in the 1924 film "Los funerales de Recabarren."[8][9] Around 1932, she lived in Maipú with her partner Tomás Conelli, a communist leader and longtime collaborator of Recabarren's.[10]
Flores died in Santiago in 1952.[10] Today, she is recognized by feminist groups who celebrate her as one of the country's first female labor leaders.[1][11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Avilés, Daniela (2015-04-02). "Feminismo obrero. "Compañerita Teresa Flores"". La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Maturana, Cristián (2019-03-09). "COMPAÑERA TERESA FLORES, ¡PRESENTE EN LA LUCHA!". El Pueblo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-04-06.
- ^ a b Registro Civil, Libro de Nacimientos 1890–1891 (in Spanish). Cementerio Parroquial de Maipú, Libro de Sepultaciones.
- ^ Lafertte, Elías (1971). Vida de un comunista (páginas autobiográficas) (in Spanish). Santiago: Empresa Editora Austral. p. 86.
- ^ "Permítanme que desde las columnas de nuestro periódico haga saber ...". El Despertar (in Spanish). 1913-04-10.
- ^ a b Barnard, Andrew (2017). El Partido Comunista de Chile, 1922–1947 (in Spanish). Santiago: Ariadna Ediciones.
- ^ Grez, Sergio (2011). Historia del comunismo en Chile (in Spanish). Santiago: Lom Ediciones.
- ^ "Los funerales de Recabarren". Centro Cultural la Moneda (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-09-19. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Exhibición del documental "Los Funerales de Luis Emilio Recabarren 1924"". Archivo Nacional (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ a b Lagos Mieres, Manuel Andrés (2020). "FLORES, Teresa". Diccionario Biográfico de las Izquierdas Latinoamericanas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Mujeres arman huelga en Chile y marchan contra violencia". UnoTV (in Spanish). 2020-03-09. Archived from the original on 2025-01-04.