Magda Portal (May 27, 1900 – 1989) was a Peruvian poet, feminist, author, and political activist and leader. She was recognized in the vanguardia poetry literary movement in Peru and Latin America, and she was one of the founders of the APRA (American Popular Revolutionary Alliance) political party. Early life Magda Portal was born on May 27, 1900 in Barranco, near Lima, Peru. As a young woman, she worked during the day, and attended classes at the University of San Marcos during the evening. These classes broadened her views on philosophical and political ideals. During this stage of her life as a young woman, she began her literary career by writing poetry and reporting for magazines. In 1923, Portal was recognized by the prestigious Juegos Florales poetry competition. However, Portal refused to accept the prize when she heard Augusto Leguia, the Peruvian president was to announce and award the prize to her. This was a definitive move in her career, and perhaps marked the beginning of Portal's political career. Political career Portal continued to write extensively after this poetry competition in 1923. On November 11, 1923, she gave birth to her daughter, Gloria. When Portal returned to Peru after a trip to Bolivia, she became actively involved in progressive politics and the active literary scene in Lima, Peru. In June 1927, her role in progressive politics made her one of the many people the regime of Augusto Leguía exiled for allegedly participating in communist organizations. After she was exiled, she traveled first to Cuba and then to Mexico. While in Mexico, she met Haya de la Torre, the Peruvian founder of the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA) movement, who recruited her to the Aprista movement. She then became the cofounder, along with many others, of the Aprista party in 1931. At this time Portal began to focus more on politics than poetry and she became a committed anti-imperialist. Portal traveled all over Latin America promoting these anti-imperialist and Aprista ideals, proving herself as a political leader. In 1930 Portal traveled to Chile, but was imprisoned and placed into solitary confinement. Later that year after President Leguía's regime fell, Portal finally returned to Peru where she was appointed to the task of organizing women's Aprista groups throughout Peru by the Aprista party's national executive committee, which Portal was a member of. She continued in her work by assisting with the party