Педрони́ла Виенто́с Гасто́н: Пионе́р пуэрторика́нского образова́ния и правосу́дия

Puerto Rican educator

Petronila "Nilita" Vientós Gastón (June 5, 1903 – July 10, 1989) was an educator, writer, journalist and the first female lawyer to work for the Puerto Rico Department of Justice.

Vientós Gastón was born in San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, a town located on the western region of Puerto Rico. Her parents moved to Havana, Cuba when she was only a child, where she received her primary education. After living in Cuba for various years, they moved to New York City, where she received her secondary education. In 1923, Vientós Gastón returned to Puerto Rico.

She entered the University of Puerto Rico School of Law where she studied law and earned her degree. In 1945, while she was a student, she founded and directed the magazine Asomante. She was granted a scholarship from the Rockefeller Foundation and studied literature at Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio.

When Vientós Gastón returned to Puerto Rico, she was hired by her alma mater to teach literature. She was also hired by the Puerto Rico Department of Justice, becoming the first woman hold this position. She worked as an auxiliary prosecutor general for three decades. Vientós Gastón defended the use of the Spanish language in the courts of Puerto Rico, before the Supreme Court, and won.

Vientós Gastón had a column in the newspaper "El Mundo". In 1956, she published Introducción a Henry James" (Introduction to Henry James)

In 1996, the Association of Graduates of the University of Puerto Rico, dedicated the 50th anniversary issue of Asomante to Vientós Gastón and to the memory of Margot Arce de Vázquez. Vientós Gastón died on July 10, 1989, in Santurce, Puerto Rico.

The Nilita Vientós Gastón Foundation was founded in 1995 and Vientós Gastón's house was converted into a museum library. The Foundation together with the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture manages her publications and documents. The Puerto Rican Bar Association annually present the Nilita Vientós Gastón Medal to the person whose principles exemplifies that of Vientós Gastón's. The Bar Association also honored her memory by naming a Hall after her. Giannina Braschi dedicated United States of Banana to Nilita Vientós Gastón.