Ruth Rivera Marín

Ruth Rivera Marín (18 June 1927 – 15 December 1969) was a Mexican architect. Her professional experience centered on teaching, institutional management, theory and practice related to architecture. She was the first woman student of the College of Engineering and Architecture at the National Polytechnic Institute. Ruth María Rivera Marín was born in Mexico City on 18 June 1927 to parents Diego Rivera, a prominent Mexican muralist, and mother Guadalupe Marín Preciado, a well-known actress and writer. Her elder sister was Guadalupe Rivera Marín. She completed her primary education at the Escuela Alberto Correa and finished her secondary education at Secondary School N° 8. Rivera was the first woman to study architecture at the College of Engineering and Architecture of the National Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 1950 with the degree title of engineer-architect of the College of Engineering and Architecture (ESIA). Simultaneously with her studies of architecture, Rivera studied dance with Waldeen Falkenstein and acting with Seki Sano and appeared in stage productions. She married Pedro Alvarado Castanon, the President of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, with whom she had two children: Pedro Diego and Ruth María. Following Alvarado's death, she married Rafael Coronel, a well known Mexican painter and they had a son, Juan Rafael. (See Pedro Alvarado Rivera website) In 1947, Rivera began teaching visual arts at the teachers' training college and at the La Esmeralda School of Painting and Sculpture. She participated in the Social Service Brigades of 1948, doing her public service in Celaya, Guanajuato, and drafting a master plan for the city before heading to Italy in 1950 for further studies. She studied urban rehabilitation at the Institute of Restoration in Rome for two years. After her graduation, Rivera returned to Mexico and began teaching in 1952 at the EISA. She taught subjects related to theory of Architecture, Architectural Composition Workshop Planning and Urban and planning theory.