He February 11th is celebrated on International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It is a day to vindicate the work of women in all scientific disciplines, both today and throughout history. It is also a good time to promote scientific vocations among girls, showing them references. However, sometimes we fall into showing mostly foreign references. It is not bad, of course, but it is also interesting to show that there is and has been great Spanish women scientists in the most varied disciplines.
It is true that in Spain the oldest names are much more modern than in other places. Does that mean there was no Spanish women scientists before? Maybe not, or maybe just their names, like those of many others, were erased from history.
In this article we review the history of Spanish women scientists with eleven names. Some are no longer here, but their careers marked us forever. Others are in full swing and others are just getting started. But the names of all will be remembered for their great scientific work. There are only eleven examples, but we have many more references.
First women scientists: María Elena Maseras, the university pioneer
The history of Spanish women scientists begins with Maria Elena Maseras (1853-1905). She was the first Spaniard to enroll in a science career, specifically in medicine. It should be said that the first female scientists in Spain, as well as in other countries, were mostly medical. It was not well seen that women dedicate themselves to science, but medicine is a profession closely associated with care that has always been associated with the female gender. Therefore, this race served as a springboard for women to the University.
It should also be noted that, although there was no explicit, written ban on women going to university in Spain, María Elena He needed a permit from King Amadeo I himself to be able to matrillate This, logically, left out young women who were not from high society.
The first years she received classes in private, separated from her male classmates. However, given her good grades, she eventually could go to class with the restpaving the way somewhat for those who came later.
Felisa Martín Bravo, the first meteorologist
Although the first Spanish women scientists were doctors, it did not take long for others to arrive who dedicated themselves to other specialties far removed from typical care. It is the case of Felisa Martin Bravo (1898-1979)who She is considered the first female meteorologist in our country.
She was one of the scientists of a time of cultural and scientific flourishing in our country, known as the silver age. Thanks to the Board of Expansion of Studieswhich would later become what is now the CSIC, she and other women were able to study scientific careers, dedicate themselves to it and even stay abroad.
In the case of Felisa, she studied physics. There she met the one she would later become her guardian: Blas Cabrera, one of the most eminent physicists of the time. Thanks to him, he entered the world of research, first of all in the Physics Research Laboratory, directed by Julio Palacios, becoming the first woman to work in said group. There, she specialized in the study of crystalline lattices using X-rays. However, over time she discovered that her great passion was meteorology, for which she prepared for the oppositions for the State Meteorological Corps.
Thus, work began that began in 1929 and was maintained even after, with the Civil War, the State Meteorological Agency was divided into two parts. She continued in that of the republican side until, with the end of the war, she had to undergo a purge file. Even so, she got over it, and she was able to continue working as a meteorologist until the 1960s.
Jimena Quirós, the first oceanographer
Jimena Quiros (1899-1983) He studied physics, like Felisa. However, in her case she specialized in the study of the ocean, from the physics of ocean currents to the biology of some mollusks.
She is considered the first Spanish oceanographer, both for her place in the Spanish Institute of Oceanography, obtained by competitive examination when she was only 22 years old, as well as for being the first to embark on an oceanographic mission. In addition, she was the first Spanish woman to sign a scientific paper on sea science.
also had a great social and political commitment, in addition to being a faithful defender of feminism. In fact, she chaired the Radical Socialist Republican Party’s women’s caucus before women even had the right to vote.
Gabriella Morreale, the Italian of Spanish women scientists
Actually, Gabriella Morereale (1939-2017) was born in Italy. However, he settled with his family in Malaga when he was only 11 years old. In Spain, she also met the man who would be her husband, so that, after her marriage, she obtained Spanish nationality. That is why we have included her in the list of Spanish women scientists who went down in history.
And if he went down in history it was for his great role in the area of endocrinology. He devoted much of his research to demonstrating that the iodine shortage in the Alpujarra area of Granada and Almeriaand was behind the boom in goiter cases in this region. In addition, she was in charge of promoting in Spain the famous heel testwith which congenital hypothyroidism in babies can be diagnosed very early.
Margarita Salas, one of the most distinguished Spanish women scientists
Definitely, Margarita Salas (1938-2019) She was one of the most nationally and internationally renowned Spanish women scientists.
A disciple of the Nobel Prize Severo Ochoa, she stood out for multiple works in the area of molecular biology. But especially for patenting the method of Phage phi29 DNA polymerase. Thanks to this, small samples of DNA can be amplified to obtain millions of copies, making it possible to analyze it for purposes ranging from paternity tests to the PCR search for pathogens such as the COVID-19 virus. His work was so important that it is the most profitable patent in the history of the CSIC.
Rosa Menéndez, the first director of the CSIC
chemistry Rosa Menendez (1956) is known to have been the first woman to head the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). But that’s not his only important position. He has also chaired the European Association of Carbon Materials and has made stays in very leading international centers.
In addition, for her work as a researcher in the areas of materials and energyhas collaborated with many companies in the electrical, aeronautical, carbochemical and petrochemical sectors.
Begoña Vila Costas, from Galicia to James Webb
the Galician Begona Vila (1963) is an astrophysicist specializing in the study of spiral galaxies. She currently works at NASA, where she has been serving since 2006 as Principal Engineer of the Fine Guidance Sensor and the Near-Infrared Imaging and Slit-less Spectrograph (FGS-NIRISS). This is one of the instruments aboard the James Webbthe successor space telescope to Hubble that has given us so much news in the last year.
This has even led him to be awarded by NASA itself with the Exceptional Public Achievement Medal.
María Blasco, the Spanish scientist who stands up to aging
the molecular biologist Maria Blasco (1965) stands out for his work in the area of telomeres and telomerase and for being the Director of the National Cancer Research Center (CNIO).
Telomeres are those ends of chromosomes that protect DNA from damage as cells divide. The shorter they are, the older the cell is considered to be, which is why the work of this scientist focuses mainly on the study of the biochemical pathways of aging. This has applications in the study and prevention of multiple diseases, including cancer.
Spanish women scientists who touched the Nobel Prize: Alicia Sintes
Alicia Sintes (1969) is a theoretical physicist specializing in the study of gravitational waves. He has been part of the LIGO scientific collaboration since 1997 and was involved in the discovery of that first gravitational wave signal in 2016, which earned Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne the Nobel Prize. As for her positions in Spain, she is a member of the Institute for Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and the Menorquin Institute of Studies (IME), as well as a Severo Ochoa associate researcher at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (UAM-CSIC). .
Elena García Armada, Spanish women scientists are also engineers
We could not talk about Spanish women scientists without mentioning Elena Garcia Armada (1971). She is an industrial engineer and doctor in robotics, who currently chairs the CSIC’s Center for Automation and Robotics. Although he initially focused his career on developing robots for industry, he eventually specialized in the design of bionic exoskeletons for kids with walking problems. This led him to win the European Inventor Award in 2022. It is the least that he deserves for such commendable work.
Sara García Alonso, the first Spanish astronaut
The youngest on this list of Spanish women scientists is Sara Garcia Alonso (1989). This biotechnologist has focused her research on the study of cancer. In fact, she works at the National Center for Oncology Research (CNIO). However, in 2022 she took another step in her career by being chosen for the reserve of the new team of astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA). She thus becomes the first Spanish female astronaut. She and she the fourth astronaut in our country, after her newly elected partner Pablo Álvarez and the veterans Pedro Duque and Miguel López Alegría.