Women Diplomats during the Interwar Period: the Case of Palma Guillén

Abstract

This article analyzes the diplomatic career of Palma Guillén, the first woman to represent Mexico in high-ranking diplomatic positions during the interwar period. Guillén was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Bogota, Colombia (1935–36) and Copenhagen, Denmark (1936–37), and Technical Advisor to the Mexican Delegation at the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (1938–41). The article aims to elucidate the activities she undertook and the issues she focused on, as well as to compare her experience dealing with governments, the press and diplomatic peers to that of other female diplomats and consuls from Europe and the Americas during the interwar period.