Enedina Alves Marques, a Brazilian engineer who passed away 110 years ago, was the first Black woman in Brazil to earn an engineering degree and the first woman in the state of Paraná to become an engineer.
Marques was born in Curitiba, Brazil, on this date in 1913. She put herself through secondary school by working as a nanny and domestic helper, and after she graduated, she became a teacher. But she wanted to go to college more than anything else. In 1940, she registered for civil engineering classes at the Federal University of Paraná after passing the prerequisite tests.
Marquez was disliked and ignored by some of her teachers and classmates because this was only nine years after women gained the right to vote and fifty years after slavery was outlawed. Marques persevered and was the only woman among 32 male graduates in 1945, despite being subjected to discrimination while earning a degree in a field that was predominantly White and dominated by men.
She began her career as an engineering assistant at the State Department of Transportation and Public Works before moving to the State Department of Water and Electric Energy in Paraná. She contributed significantly to a number of significant projects, including the topographical survey and construction of the largest underground hydroelectric plant, the Capivari-Cachoeira Plant, as well as the creation of the Paraná Hydroelectric Plan for a number of nearby rivers.
Her name was included among 53 other pioneering Brazilian women on the Memorial à Mulher (Memorial to the Woman) in recognition of her contributions to Paraná and the engineering field. After her, a Curitiba neighborhood street was named Rua Engenheira Enedina Alves Marques.
In addition, the Enedina Alves Marques Institute of Black Women was established in Maringá, Paraná, in 2006 and is known as the Instituto de Mulheres Negras Enedina Marques.
Happy birthday, Enedina Alves Marques!
