Lagrimas Untalan

Untalan was born Lagrimas Pereira Leon Guerrero in Hagåtña in 1911, the youngest of seven children of Mariana and Francisco Leon Guerrero.[1] After leaving school she became a teacher, a job in which she pushed for greater use of the Chamorro language in education.[1] During her career she assisted the Fijian educational authorities with developing its curriculum.[1] She also translated Stand Ye Guamanians into Chamorro.[1] She married a fellow teacher Luis Palomo Untalan in 1950. Their son Ramon died in infancy, after which the couple adopted two children.[1]

In the 1954 elections for the Guamanian Legislature she ran on an independent ticket alongside Torres and Carlos Taitano.[2] Their campaign meetings saw female attendees pelted with eggs and accused of prostitution. However, all three were elected, with Untalan finishing seventh and Torres fifteenth,[3] becoming the first women in the Legislature.[2] In 1956 she was one of the founders of the Territorial Party.[1]

Untalan retired from teaching in 1970, after which she continued her community work. She died in 1997.[1]