Via Wikimedia Commons
Felisa Rincón de Gautier
Complex Legacy1897–1994
First woman mayor of a capital city in the Americas, governed San Juan 1946-1968, champion of the poor
Felisa Rincón de Gautier, known as "Doña Fela," was the first female mayor of a capital city in the Americas, serving as mayor of San Juan from 1946 to 1969. She helped found the Popular Democratic Party in 1938 and, as mayor, spearheaded urban renewal programs, built schools and housing projects, and preserved colonial architecture in Old San Juan.