Isabel Le Brun de Pinochet



Isabel Le Brun de Pinochet (née Le Brun Reyes; bapt. 27 November 1845 – 25 June 1930), was a Chilean educationalist who led reform of education for girls in Chile.

Le Brun was born in San Felipe, Chile to French emigrant Jean-Baptiste "Estanislao" Le Brun, grandson of Charles Le Brun, and Francisca Reyes, a teacher. In 1862, she married Marcos Fidel Pinochet Espinoza, who worked in mining. They had 16 children, including Tancredo Pinochet.

In her time, secondary education for girls was limited and only available through the church. Pinochet opened a private secondary school, later known as Liceo Isabel Le Brun de Pinochet, in Santiago in 1875. This paved the way for a state-funded educational system for both sexes. She not only gave primary instruction, but she also taught secondary school. At the end of the second year of the schools functioning, on December 1, 1876, she decided to send a request to the University Council to ask for the nomination of university commissions to assist to and validate her students' exams.

Due to her lobbying a decree facilitating the admittance of women to higher education was signed by Miguel Luis Amunátegui, Minister of Education, in 1877.

A statue to her and fellow women's educationalist Antonia Tarrago by Samuel Román Rocías stands in Santiago de Chile.