The National Council of Women was created by the merge of two women's organizations founded in 1915. The Women's Reading Circle or
Círculo de Lectura de Senoras, founded in
Santiago by
Amanda Labarca, and the
Club de Senoras (Women's Club), a women's reading circle founded by upper-class women. Both promoted women's suffrage, and when the Women's Club asked the Conservative Party to support women's suffrage, they were threatened by the church with excommunication. It promoted a moderate and gradual progression toward equality. In accordance with this, they supported that the suffrage be introduced gradually, with municipal suffrage introduced before full national suffrage. Women's suffrage was introduced on municipial level in Chile in 1931, and on national level in 1949. ==See also==