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By JADE VERONIQUE YAP, GMA Integrated News
Published March 18, 2025 5:46pm
The first woman to receive a degree from the Harvard Law School (HLS) is a Filipina.
On Instagram, the prestigious law school revealed Erlinda Arce Ignacio Espiritu received her degree from HLS in 1951.
“Meet the first woman to graduate with a degree from Harvard Law School,” Harvard began the caption that accompanied two old photos of Espiritu.
According to the tribute post, Erlinda found inspiration to become a lawyer in the legends of the “Knights of the Round Table.”
Quoting her, Harvard wrote: “The knights were always defending the defenseless, and I thought, how could I do that?”
Erlinda first earned her law degree at the Manuel L. Quezon School of Law in Manila and "became one of the first women lawyers in the Philippines" in 1947 before conquering Harvard.
In a 2007 interview with the HLS Bulletin, Erlinda admitted she was “at a loss” at Harvard and had difficulty adapting to the case method as well as to “Americans’ slurring manner of speech.”
Despite this, Erlinda said she had very good professors,” and credited her HLS experiences with teaching her how to think.”
After graduating from Harvard, Erlinda, with no prior experience in criminal cases, was appointed by the Philippine Supreme Court to represent a prisoner sentenced to death for murder in 1959.
In the early 1960s, Erlinda left her legal career and managed their family business in Mindoro. For 32 years, she was the president of a rural bank, helping the poor with loans for small businesses, homes, and education. She continued to do pro bono legal work until May 2006, before undergoing brain cancer surgery in July.
In 2007, the then 82-year-old returned to HLS in October 2007 as the guest of honor at a Masters of Laws dinner. In her speech, Erlinda thanked the university for “the opportunity to learn well, not only in the matters of law but in improving the lives of our fellow men.”
This International Women's Month, we're tipping our hats and thanking Ma'am Erlinda for blazing such a trail.
— LA, GMA Integrated News
