Famous Hispanic Women

Hispanic people are ones originating from the Spanish speaking countries of the Americas and of course, the Spain. Here we look at some prominent Hispanic women.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

Aranxta is a famous woman tennis player hailing from Spain. Arantxa’s brothers Javier Sanchez and Emilio Sanchez were professional tennis players. She was born on December 18, 1971 in Barcelona, Spain. She is five feet six inches in height and 123 pounds in weight. Sanchez won the French Open tennis tournament at the age of 17 in 1989. In 1994, she won both the French Open and the US open. In 1995, Sanchez became the first Spanish player irrespective of sex to be the number one tennis player in the world. Her rivals were Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. She participated in a total of twelve Grand Slam finals. She won a total of 759 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) matches in her career. She led Spain to victory in five Federation Cup championships. Vicario also bagged four medals at the Olympics in tennis. Arantxa was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.

France Anne Cordova

France was born on August 5, 1947 in Paris, France. Anne obtained a B.A degree in English from the prestigious Stanford University. Cordova did her Ph.D in Physics subject from the California Institute of Technology in 1979. France has published over 100 scientific papers. She was the youngest and first woman to serve as Chief Scientist in NASA. Cordova was awarded NASA’s highest honor ‘The NASA Distinguished Service Medal’. Hispanic Business Magazine named France as one of the ‘100 most influential Hispanics’. Cordova is the 11th President of Purdue University. She is a leading authority on space instrumentation and multiwavelength observational astronomy. She was recently involved with Europe’s X-ray Multi-Mirror mission. Anne is married to Christian J. Foster, a science educator. She is the mother of two children, Stephen and Anne-Catherine.

Dolores Huerta

Dolores was born on April 10, 1930 in Dawson, New Mexico. Her father was Juan Fernandez and mother Alicia Chavez. Huerta grew up in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1955, she lobbied for improved conditions for farm workers. She formed the UFW (United Farm Workers of America) in 1962. In 1972, Dolores co-chaired the California delegation to the Democratic Convention. In 1988, she was seriously injured while protesting against the policies of the US Presidential candidate George Bush. She was compensated handsomely from it by the police. She received the Ellis Island Medal of Freedom Award in 1993. She was given the Eleanor Roosevelt Award in 1999. She is still working for the farm workers' union. She continues to campaign to improve the lives of women, immigrants and workers. Dolores is a board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation which lobbies for gender balance. Dolores has eleven children, fourteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Tania Leon

Tania was born on May 14, 1943 in Havana, Cuba. Her father was Oscar Leon Mederos and mother was Dora Ferran. Tania is an internationally acclaimed musician. Leon is a music director, composer and conductor. She has received many prizes for her musical accomplishments. She was one of the first female conductors of orchestra. There are many more Hispanic woman who have significant achievements like Gabriela Sabatini, Ellen Ochoa and Isabelle Alende.