Carmen Lyra

María Isabel Carvajal, writing under the pseudonym Carmen Lyra, was born in San José on January 15, 1887. In 1920 she published Cuentos de mi Tía Panchita, a folkloric masterpiece featuring Uncle Rabbit (Tío Conejo) that became the cornerstone of Costa Rican childhood literature.

Trained in Europe in early childhood pedagogy, she established Costa Rica's first Montessori preschool and co-founded the Costa Rican Communist Party and the Women's Alliance. Following the 1948 Civil War, she was forced into exile in Mexico, where she died in 1949. She was named Benemérita de la Patria in 1976 and her portrait grace Costa Rica's currency.