Erlinda Arce Ignacio Espiritu, a Filipina lawyer, made history as the first woman to earn a degree from Harvard Law School in 1951.
Before her time at Harvard, she graduated from the Manuel L. Quezon School of Law in Manila and became one of the first female lawyers in the Philippines in 1947.
Despite struggling with Harvard’s case method and the American accent, she persevered, later defending a prisoner sentenced to death and dedicating over three decades to helping the poor through a rural bank.
Honored by Harvard in 2007, she credited the institution for shaping her ability to think critically and improve the lives of others.
