In sociology courses at the

María Elena Landázuri Gil was a Mexican educator, musician, pacifist, and woman's rights activist. She was born into an upper-class family and grew up in Mexico City. After attending the National Conservatory of Music, she earned a degree in music from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and began teaching there. In 1915, she wrote a libretto for the opera Dos amores, which was composed by Rafael J. Tello. It was the first known libretto by a Mexican woman and premiered within a year. When an educational exchange program was launched between Mexico and the United States in 1918, she enrolled in sociology courses at the University of Chicago. While in Chicago, she worked in various settlement houses becoming friends with feminists Grace Abbott, Jane Addams, and Mary McDowell. Joining the Consejo Feminista Mexicano, she represented the organization at the 1921 Vienna congress and 1924 Washington congress of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She served as a translator for the 1922 Pan-American Conference of Women held in Baltimore, Maryland and organized with Elena Torres the 1923 Pan-American Conference of Women at Mexico City.