Bertha Lutz

Bertha Lutz (1894–1976) was a Brazilian zoologist and women’s-rights activist who helped win women’s suffrage in Brazil and advance equal-rights language in international agreements.

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Leolinda de Figueiredo Daltro: A Brazilian educator and Indigenous-rights advocate who founded an early organization for women’s suffrage. Her suffrage organizing preceded Lutz’s and helped establish Brazil’s movement.
Brazilian women's suffrage: The campaign that secured Brazilian women’s right to vote in national elections in 1932. Lutz organized the movement that made this legal change possible.
Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro): Brazil’s national museum of natural history and anthropology, founded in Rio de Janeiro in 1818. Lutz conducted zoological research there and built her scientific career.
Women's suffrage: The movement to secure women’s legal right to vote in political elections. Brazil’s suffrage campaign was one national strand of this wider movement.
Carmen Portinho: A Brazilian engineer, educator, and feminist who campaigned for women’s rights. She belonged to the generation of Brazilian feminists that carried forward Lutz’s cause.
Brazilian Federation for Women's Progress: A Brazilian organization founded in 1922 to campaign for women’s political and civil rights. Lutz led this organization as it coordinated suffrage and equality campaigns.
Zoology: The branch of biology that studies animals, including their structure, behavior, evolution, and classification. Lutz’s professional research belonged to this scientific discipline.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A 1948 United Nations declaration setting out a common standard of fundamental human rights. Its equality language continued the international advocacy to which Lutz contributed.
Marta Schink: A Brazilian diplomat and feminist who represented Brazil in international women’s-rights forums. She worked alongside Lutz in international campaigns for women’s equality.
Brazilian Constitution of 1934: Brazil’s constitution promulgated in 1934, which established women’s voting rights and addressed labor protections. Lutz served in the constituent assembly that drafted this constitution.