Eloísa

Eloísa Díaz (1866 – 1950) was a Chilean doctor. She was the first female medical student to attend the University of Chile, and the first woman to become a doctor of medicine in Chile as well as the entire region of South America.

Eloísa García Etchegoyhen (1921-1996) was a pioneering Uruguayan educator and disability rights activist. She not only created the first educational facilities in Uruguay to teach those with disabilities, but she developed job placement programs and parent support groups to help children integrate into the larger society. She spearheaded training for teachers and psychologists leading to the creation of research programs into the cause of intellectual disability and led a public awareness campaign to encourage acceptance of disabled people by their families and communities. She began the first school for students with multiple disabilities and began the first pre-school for early assessment and intervention for disabled children in Uruguay. She brought the Special Olympics to Uruguay and worked throughout Latin America and the Caribbean for inclusive policies for disabled citizens.