Women from Postas in Paraguay, case: María Francisca Chaparro, Paso de Santa Marí, Paraguay

Abstract

In Paraguay, in the mid-nineteenth century, there were women in charge of the official post offices, called postwomen. They held that position in their own right or upon the death of their husbands, when the position traditionally belonged to a man. Despite their social and political influence in the places of their performance, they were generally unlettered women. The case of Maria Francisca Chaparro gives clues to understand a less mythical part of the social history of Paraguay in relation to the leadership of women. This recovery of memory is important not only because of the importance of the postal network in independent Paraguay but because of the social circumstances in which women assumed the responsibility of directing the official posts when, by tradition, this task corresponded to men or their male descendants.