Female Patenting in Hispanic Capitalism: Subverting the Marianismo Ideology in Early XX Century Chile

The presence of women in patenting during the 19th century in developed common-law countries has provided evidence of early female entrepreneurial activity and helped to reshape the traditional gendered notions of Capitalism for such economies. However, there is limited enquiry regarding the presence of women in patenting activity within Hispanic Capitalist economies during similar periods. Hispanic Capitalism was heavily shaped by the Marianismo ideology, whereby women were expected to remain within the privacy of the household, as men were regarded as the sole providers of the household.

This paper examines the presence of women in the patent application process in Chile whilst the first patent law was in force (1840-1910). We identify women not only as assignees and inventors among Chilean patent grantees, but also among applicants, agents and opponents to patent applications.  The presence of women in otherwise invisible entrepreneurial roles supports the hypothesis that women surrounding the male-dominated patent world represented a kind of elite group of soldiers among a modest army of female entrepreneurs fighting in the front line for the right to run businesses. These women represented a set of highly committed entrepreneurs departing from the Marianismo ideology. We focus on the entrepreneurial record of one of the female inventor and grantee Laurencia Collangues de Solminihac. Her entrepreneurial record is extensive and long lasting. Hers is an experience that signals that female invention was not a curiosity, but an example of strongly committed female entrepreneurial activity that subverted from within the ideology of Marianismo.