Blanca Magrassi Scagno, Mexican women’s rights activist, died at 92

Blanca Margarita Magrassi Scagno was born on November 29, 1923, in Tampico, Tamaulipas, and died on October 9, 2015.

She was a Mexican women’s rights activist.

Scahno was also a civil and pro-democracy activist, politician and leading figure within the National Action Party (PAN).

Blanca attend primary school and high school at St. Teresa’s Academy in San Antonio, Texas.

She received her bachelor’s degree in 1944 from the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas.

Blanca receives her master’s degree in educational psychology from New Mexico State University in 1967.

She was the wife and political partner of Luis H. Álvarez, the former President of the National Action Party.

Blanca served as a member of the PAN’s national executive committee from 1988 to 1990.

Scagno was considered a moral authority within the PAN and Mexican politics.

Blanca research was published in Mexican Psychology Magazine, the Center for Educational Studies Magazine, Educational Studies in Latin America Magazine and the National Council of Science and Technology.

She married Luis H. Álvarez, they had two children, Blanca Estela and Luis Jorge.

Scagno was the PAN candidate for Municipal President, or Mayor, of Chihuahua in 1968.

Scagno was also nominated as the PAN candidate for the national Senate of the Republic, representing the state of Chihuahua, during the 1988 general election.

Scagno and the wife of Oropeza, Luz María de Oropeza, traveled to Mexico City to request a meeting with Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid.

Magrassi and Oropeza waited for hours before President de la Madrid agreed to meet with the two.

Magrassi frankly told the President, “No es un partido, es un pueblo que quiere vivir en democracia”, during the meeting.

The women, along with the PAN President Pablo Emilio Madero, then held a press conference at PAN’s national headquarters following the meeting.

She was also a member of the National Action Party’s (PAN) national committee from 1988 to 1990, and the Secretary for the Promotion of Women (Secretaria de Promoción Política de la Mujer) of PAN from 1987 to 1993,

In 1996, Blanca was honored as “Woman of the Year” by the Association of Professional Women of Chihuahua (la Asociación de Mujeres Profesionales de Chihuahua)

Blanca also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of the Incarnate Word for education and community service in 1995, and the Distinguished Alumni Award and the Distinguished International Alumni Award from New Mexico State University in 2008.

She left behind her husband, Luis H. Álvarez.

Blanca Magrassi Scagno passed away at 92 yrs old, on October 9, 2015.