Hermelinda Urvina was the first South American woman to obtain a pilot’s license. Urvina was born in Ambato, Ecuador in 1905. After marrying her husband Rosendo Briones in 1926, she moved to New York City. In 1932, she earned her pilot’s license, becoming the first South American woman to do so. Urvina was also an early member of the Ninety-Nines, an International organization for women pilots. In 2002, she was named one of the ten most influential women of the millennium by El Comercio, an Ecuadorian newspaper.