Biography New Mexico’s ‘Gran Dama’ Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven.

The fascinating life of 94-year-old pioneering New Mexico “Gran Dama” Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven has now been chronicled in a new, authorized biography by Kathryn M. Cordova titled, ¡Concha! Concha Ortiz y Pino: Matriarch of a 300-Year-Old New Mexico Legacy (La Herencia Gran Via 2004).

Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven was the third woman elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives at the age of 26, the first woman ever elected majority whip in any state legislature, and helped pass significant legislation involving bi-lingual education, women’s rights (allowing women to serve on juries) and equalizing public school funding between rural and urban districts.

Five U.S. presidents – Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter – appointed her to national councils and commissions. After President Johnson appointed her to the National Commission on Architectural Barriers – where she was the only female – that body did significant work on construction standards to promote handicapped access to federally owned and managed buildings.

Sra. de Kleven also revived her father’s failing 100,000-acre ranch; helped pass legislation to establish The University of New Mexico’s School of Inter-American Affairs (and was its first graduate); served as a Board member of more than 60 organizations; was inducted into the New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame, and was designated “Latina of the Century” in 1999 by Vista magazine. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson named a state building in Santa Fe for her this past summer.

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