Élida Passo was born in Buenos Aires in 1867, the daughter of a pharmacist.
[1] When she began her higher education, she first pursued a major in Humanities and Philosophy, and had a brief stint in Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences, both faculties of the University of Buenos Aires.
[1] She graduated in 1885, becoming the first South American woman to earn a university degree.
[1] This led Passo to initiate a judicial appeal which would have great repercussions in the academic field.
[1] Élida Passo died of tuberculosis in 1893,[4] when she was in her fifth year of study and was close to completing her medical degree and becoming the first woman physician in Argentina.