The Colombian daily El Tiempo has just published an article by Myriam Bautista paying homage to the first women engineers in Colombia.ย They were Rebeca and Guillermina Uribe Bone, who graduated as chemical and civil engineers, respectively, in 1945 and 1948.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Basque Guillermo Uribe Echevarrรญa emigrated to Guatemala, and there he married a local, Marรญa Teresa Bone Romero.ย After several years in Central America, and with six children in tow, they moved to Medellรญn, in Colombia, where they spent they rest of their lives and had even more children, for a total of eight!
And by all accounts, that family could be considered extraordinary.ย The eldest, Antonio, became an aviator; Rebecca became a chemical engineer; Helena, a doctor; Guillermina, a civil engineer; then cam Carmen and Marรญa Teresa; Roberto became a doctor, and, like Jorge, born in Medellรญn.
At that time, women going to university was not common, and their choice of a very technical degree (be it civil or chemical engineering) was outright extraordinary, to the point that these two sisters were the first to specialize in those subjects and get university degrees, in the 1940s.
This was undoubtedly due to the attitude and the way of thinking and seeing the role of women in society.ย As Guillermina explained, “My father was ahead of his time, and that’s why he pushed us hard.ย He had a broader view of women.”
And the family’s relationship with the homeland was never broken, as is shown by how one of the protagonists of today’s article, Rebeca, lived in Bilbao until her death.
Just a few days ago, February 11, was the sixth annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science.ย We can think of no better way to promote Equality in Science for Society than by remembering the commitment and effort of these two pioneers, and of those parents who understood that there were no limits or barriers to the development of their daughters, especially in times when, we’re sure, doing so was hardly easy.
We’ll leave you with theย El Tiempo article, and articles about the two engineers, published on the websites of the respective universities.
El Tiempo – 24/2/2021 – Colombia
Dos pioneras en tiempos difรญciles para las mujeres
Fueron dos muchachas que en los aรฑos cuarenta del siglo XX estudiaron en facultades donde, sin colgar un aviso que dijera โNo se admiten mujeresโ, no solรญan contar con aspirantes del gรฉnero femenino sino hasta veinte aรฑos despuรฉs. Rebeca y Guillermina pasaron las difรญciles pruebas de admisiรณn y se integraron por cinco aรฑos a sus facultades, alternando siempre con compaรฑeros y profesores hombres. Fueron las รบnicas en las aulas de ingenierรญas en Medellรญn y Bogotรก, con muy buenas notas en toda la carrera.
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Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana – 21/1/2019 – Colombia
La Facultad de Quรญmica Industrial de la UCB (hoy UPB) recibe a la primera mujer en graduarse como ingeniera en Colombia
En la actualidad, pese a que las condiciones sociales alrededor del mundo han venido cambiando lenta pero progresivamente para garantizar la equidad, aun es baja la proporciรณn de mujeres que inician y culminan carreras de ingenierรญa y, en general, carreras asociadas a la ciencia y la tecnologรญa, a las cuales se suele referirse como STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
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Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana – 17/5/2017 – Colombia
Fallece la primera ingeniera del paรญs
El pasado 8 de mayo en Bilbao, Espaรฑa, falleciรณ Rebeca Uribe Bone, primera mujer graduada de la carrera de Ingenierรญa Quรญmica en la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana de Medellรญn y la primera mujer graduada como ingeniera en el paรญs.
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Universidad Nacional de Colombia – /10/2017 – Colombia
Primera Ingeniera Civil Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Bogotรก 18 Diciembre 1948
A la edad de 98 aรฑos, falleciรณ en Bogotรก el pasado 11 de octubre GUILLERMINA URIBE BONE DE STELLA, primera mujer en recibir el tรญtulo de Ingeniero Civil en la Facultad de Matemรกticas e Ingenierรญa de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Bogotรก, el sรกbado 18 de diciembre de 1948, de acuerdo con el Acta de Grado N0. 779; es decir, hace 70 aรฑos.
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Last Updated on Feb 25, 2021 by About Basque Country