Mexico: María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías

Born in 1912 in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías is considered the first woman in Mexico and Latin America to earn a diploma in architecture (1933–1937). She was also the first woman to obtain a license to practice architecture in Mexico (c. 1939). Dehesa Gómez Farías studied architecture at the Academy of San Carlos (the National School of Architecture) in Mexico City, Mexico (1933–1939), which was part of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Throughout her career she worked for government agencies, including the Public Works Department of the Federal District of Mexico City. She also served as a member of the International Union of Women Architects (UIFA). To honor her as the first woman to graduate in architecture from UNAM, the institution named a gallery after her (2022). She also earned recognition from the College of Architects of Xalapa, which grants an annual award named in her honor. Amongst her other accomplishments, she was a joint recipient of the Ruth Rivera Award from the National College of Women Architects and Engineers (1974). She died in 2009 in Mexico City, Mexico.