Jacqueline Michot Ceballos | |
---|---|
Born |
Mamou, Louisiana |
September 8, 1925
Education | Southwestern Louisiana Institute |
Occupation | activist, political organizer |
Known for | Founding the Veteran Feminists of America Representative of National Organization for Women |
Title | President of Veteran Feminists of America |
Spouse(s) | Alvaro Ceballos (m. 1951) |
Children | 4 |
Website | www |
Jacqueline "Jacqui" Michot Ceballos (born September 8, 1925) is an American feminist and activist. Ceballos is the former president of New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women and founder of the Veteran Feminists of America organization which documents the history of Second wave feminism and pioneer feminists. Ceballos' 1971 debate on sexual politics with Norman Mailer and Germaine Greer is recorded in the 1979 film Town Bloody Hall. Ceballos is also featured in the feminist history film She's Beautiful When She's Angry.
Ceballos was born Jacqueline Michot in Mamou, Louisiana on September 8, 1925. The daughter of Louis Michot and Adele Domas, Ceballos was the middle child of seven children. She attended public school in Lafayette and studied music at Southwestern Louisiana Institute. After majoring in voice, Ceballos moved to New York City to pursue a career in opera.
In 1951 Ceballos married Colombian businessman Alvaro Ceballos with whom she had four children. After the family moved to Bogota, Colombia in 1958, Ceballos founded the city's first opera company, El Teatro Experimental de la Opera. During the break-up of her marriage, Ceballos was given Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique to read, which she later said inspired her toward activism in the feminist movement. Her husband helped her open an export-import clothing business in New York.
In 1967, Ceballos moved back to New York City with her four children where she attended her first National Organization for Women (NOW) meeting. She served on the boards of NOW at the national and local levels from 1967–1973 and formed a public relations committee and speakers bureau. She co-founded the New Feminist Theater.