Salomé Ureña
Salomé Ureña (October 21, 1850 – March 6, 1897) was a Dominican poet and an early proponent of women's higher education in the Dominican Republic. Early life. Salomé Ureña was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on October 21, 1850. She was the daughter of writer Nicolás Ureña de Mendoza and Gregoria Díaz de León, who also gave their daughter her early education. At a young age Salomé was well influenced by literature. Her father taught her the classic works of Spanish and French writers that helped the young Salomé to develop her own literary career. Poetry. She  began publishing her first works at the age of seventeen and soon became known for her spontaneity and tenderness. Later on, her poetry became more tragic and sad with poems such as "En horas de angustia" ("In Hours of Anguish") or very patriotic and strong in poems such as "La Patria" ("The Motherland") and "Ruinas" ("Ruins"). She would include more personal themes in her poetry, as noted in "Mi Pedro" (dedicated to her son, perhaps her most affectionate poem), "La llegada del invierno" ("The Arrival of the Winter"). Personal life. At the age of thirty in 1880, she married Dr.  Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal, himself a writer, and an important figure in politics. The couple had four children: Francisco, Pedro, Max, and Camila Henríquez Ureña. Their children would later become highly respected figures of the mid- and late 20th century as writers, philosophers, poets, and critics of the arts. Instituto de señoritas. Around 1881, Salomé with the help of her husband opened one of the first centers of higher education for young women in the Dominican Republic, which she named "Instituto de Señoritas". Within five years, the first six female teachers had graduated from the Institute, something uncommon at the  time. The first graduating class included Mercedes Laura Aguiar, Leonor M. Feltz, Altagracia Henríquez Perdomo, Luisa Ozema Pellerano, Catalina Pou, and Ana Josefa Puello. Death. Ureña died on March 6, 1897, at age 46, due to complications of tuberculosis.