Seven pioneering women authors from Spain

Mujeres en la Memoria is a collection of the Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliográfico of the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

It includes more than 1600 works sharing a common theme: women through time. The collection dates from the 12th to the 21st century and is divided into two main sections. One covers bibliographic works: works written by or about women or on subjects of interest to women. The second is made up of graphic works, mostly portraits of great female figures.

The stories and biographies of many great Spanish women can be found - here are seven examples of Spanish female writers.

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada (1515-1582)

Nun, mystic and writer, Teresa - who is known as Saint Teresa of Jesus or Saint Teresa of Avila - is considered one of the most exceptional figures of Spanish spirituality.

In the 1560s, she founded the Order of Discalced Carmelites which dedicated its work to spirituality, prayer and poverty. It was recognised as an order by the Pope in 1580.

After her death, she was beatified in 1614, canonised in 1622 and recognised as a doctor of the Catholic Church in 1970.

In her writing, we find lyrical-religious poetry, mystical works and an extensive epistolary production.

Concepción Arenal (1820-1893)

Concepción Arenal was a pioneer in Spanish feminism. She was a prison officer, legal expert, journalist, poet and playwright.

From an early age she wanted to become a lawyer, so at the age of 21 she entered the Faculty of Law at the Central University of Madrid as an auditor.

To do so, she had to disguise herself as a man, cutting her hair short, and wearing a frock coat, cape and top hat. When her true identity was discovered, the rector intervened and, after passing an exam, she was authorised to attend classes.

Also dressed as a man, Concepción, with liberal and progressive ideas, took part in political and literary gatherings and contributed to the newspaper La Iberia.

Throughout her life and work, she denounced the situation of men's and women's prisons, the misery in nursing homes and the condition of women in the 19th century. She also defended, through her publications, the work carried out by religious communities in Spain, and contributed to Boletín de la Institución Libre de Enseñanza, an important intellectual journal in Spain.

Carolina Coronado (1820-1911)

Carolina Coronado was a Spanish writer and poet of the Romantic period in the 19th century.

Her work is notable for its diversity and versatility in terms of genres and subjects. Her first works were poetic, while she also ventured into other genres, such as prose and theatre, that revealed her versatility. From a thematic point of view, her work is also very diverse: nature, love, civic society and even politics and feminism.

She also published extensively in the contemporary press, using this medium to launch her ideas and reflections on the issues that concerned her: women, politics and the press. Her poetry was initially published in this medium, until it was compiled in a single volume entitled Poesías in 1843.

Sofía Tartilán Rodríguez (1829-1888)

Sofía Tartilán Rodríguez was a novelist, essayist and journalist who wrote genre pictures, novels and some books of erudition.

She also contributed to several magazines, such as El Gran Mundo, La Caza (1865-1868), El Mediodía de Málaga, etc.

A militant feminist, she always advocated better education for women.

María Rosalía Rita de Castro (1837-1885)

María Rosalía Rita de Castro was a Spanish poet and novelist who wrote in both Galician and Spanish.

Writing in Galician at the time when Rosalía lived, the 19th century, was not easy. Partly due to the way of thinking and the structure of society at the time, the Galician language was highly discredited and undervalued, whereas Spanish was the language of culture.

However, Rosalía de Castro gave prestige to Galician by using it in her work Cantares gallegos, thus consolidating the cultural revival of the language.

A year before her death, she published her last book of poems, entitled En las orillas del Sar. This book had a tragic tone, marked by the harsh circumstances surrounding the last years of her life. It is considered by different scholars as the main poetic creation of the 19th century.

Emilia Serrano, Baronesa de Wilson (1843–1922)

Emilia Serrano was a writer, journalist and passionate traveller, who corresponded with great writers of the time. Her letters are essential for our knowledge of the literary life of the 19th century.

As a writer she was the author of works on history and education and edited the newspapers La Caprichosa and La Nueva Caprichosa. She also collaborated in other publications such as Eco Ferrolano, El Último Figurín and El Correo de la Moda.

Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921)

Emilia Pardo Bazán was an aristocratic novelist, journalist, essayist, literary critic, poet, playwright, translator, editor, Spanish professor and lecturer who introduced naturalism in Spain.

She dedicated her life to defending women's rights, both in her daily life and in her literary works. One example is La dama joven (1885), in which she speaks of marital crises, just at the moment when she begins to separate from her husband.

One of her best known works is the novel Los pazos de Ulloa (1886), which established her as one of the great writers of Spanish literature. In it, she describes the decadence of the landed oligarchy which has lost its social leadership role. It is a pathetic depiction of the decadence of the aristocracy in the Galician rural world.

These seven women are just a few examples of the many more that can be discovered in Mujeres en la Memoria.