On Monday, October 7th, Mexico bid farewell to Ifigenia Martínez, a feminist icon of the country’s political left, who died at age 99 on Saturday — just four days after presiding over the hand-over of power to Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first woman president.
Martínez’s coffin, draped with the Mexican flag, was wheeled into the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro, the seat of Congress, where lawmakers paid homage to a pioneer who had served as an ambassador, senator, and, at the time of her death, was president of the Chamber of Deputies.
Sheinbaum earlier attended a memorial for Martínez, whom she lauded as an inspiration for generations of Mexican women and leftists.
Sheinbaum’s ascension to the presidency culminated decades of battle for equal rights in a nation with a long legacy of machismo — and where women didn’t win the right to vote until 1953.
Upon Martínez’s passing, Sheinbaum praised her idol on social media.
“On June 2, I voted for Ifigenia Martínez, a principled woman of convictions. On Oct. 1, I received the presidential sash from her hands. Today she left us,” Sheinbaum wrote. “I send all my affection and solidarity to her family, companions, and friends. Hasta siempre [Forever onward] dear teacher Ifigenia.”
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