Spanish educator and feminist
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
de Maeztu
and the second or maternal family name is
Whitney
.
Maria de Maeztu in 1923.
Maria de Maeztu Whitney
(18 July 1882,
Vitoria
- 7 January 1948,
Mar del Plata
,
Argentina
) was a Spanish educator, feminist, founder of the
Residencia de Senoritas
and the Lyceum Club in
Madrid
. She was sister of the writer, journalist and occasional diplomat,
Ramiro de Maeztu
and the painter
Gustavo de Maeztu
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Maria was the fourth of five children born in
Vitoria
the capital of the
Basque
province
of
Alava
. Her father, Manuel de Maeztu Rodriguez was a
Cuban
engineer and landowner from
Navarre
who had met her mother, Joan Whitney, the daughter of a
British
diplomat
[
citation needed
]
in
Paris
, when she was sixteen. Maria's parents never married.
[1]
In 1889 the unexpected death of her father in
Cuba
led to confusing administrative problems and the family was left in ruins. Her mother, a fragile but enterprising woman with a strong personality, took her three sons and two daughters to
Bilbao
and, in 1891, set up a residential school for girls to study
French
and
English
and improve their cultural skills. Maria started teaching at her mother's
Anglo-French
academy and then began to teach in the public schools of
Bilbao
. In 1903 she accepted the
Ayuntamiento
of Bilbao's post as director of the newly established night school for adults and also served as director of kindergarten (1902?1912). She created summer school colonies and focused on secular education which garnered her many enemies. Her fame became so widespread that, despite her youth, she was invited to share the stage with
Concepcion Saiz
,
Miguel de Unamuno
and other academicians at the
Exposicion escolar de Bilbao
(Exhibition of Scholars) in 1905.
[2]
Maria was an eloquent speaker and her knowledge of languages placed her in a position to represent Spain at international congresses and to import examples of
Anglo-Saxon
feminist associations. Without interrupting her work in Bilbao she studied
Philosophy
and
Literature
at the
University of Salamanca
as an unofficial student of
Miguel de Unamuno
. In the summer of 1908 the Board for Advanced Studies sent her as a delegate to observe the Education Section of the Franco-British Exhibition in
London
.
[3]
Later she went on a lecture tour of the
United States
,
Great Britain
,
Argentina
,
Cuba
and other Spanish cities including
University of Salamanca
, where she became a disciple of
Miguel de Unamuno
, and the
Complutense University of Madrid
where she met
Ortega y Gasset
.
Residencia de Senoritas
[
edit
]
Maria de Maeztu, from a 1919 publication.
In 1915 Maria backed by the
Junta para Ampliacion de Estudios
(Board for Advanced Studies) founded the
Residencia de Senoritas
in
Madrid
. Governed by the same rules as the
Residencia de Estudiantes
that had opened in 1910 for men, it became the first official center in Spain whose main objective was to encourage women's participation in advanced education, by providing accommodation for female students. She was its first director and with lectures, poetry readings, musical and theatrical recitals she attracted such intellectuals as
Ortega y Gasset
,
Juan Ramon Jimenez
,
Victoria Ocampo
, etc. as guest speakers. There
Unamuno
read his play
Raquel encadenada
(Rachel Enchained) and on 16 March 1932
Federico Garcia Lorca
read
Poet in New York
, his new collection of poetry not published until 1940. Lorca found the atmosphere pleasing and later held the rehearsals for his direction of
Blasco Ibanez's
La Barraca
at their auditorium. Other supporters and guest lecturers included,
Rafael Alberti
,
Luis Jimenez de Asua
,
Gregorio Maranon
, and
Ramon del Valle-Inclan
.
Lyceum Club
[
edit
]
In April 1926, during the dictatorship of
Primo de Rivera
, she founded the
Lyceum Club
the first woman's club in Spain. Together with assistance from
Carmen Baroja
and
Concha Mendez
they modelled it after the
Lyceum Club'
s that were in existence in
Brussels
,
London
,
Milan
,
New York City
,
Paris
and
The Hague
. It was intended as a meeting place where women could exchange ideas and defend their social and moral equality as well as material interests. It opened with one hundred and fifty members who represented a well-educated group of professional women, including married women who wanted a broader horizon beyond the four walls of their home. With departments devoted to social issues, literature, the arts and music, science, as well as international affairs, the group sponsored lectures, concerts, exhibitions, and a variety of literary tributes. They advocated for reformation of women's legal status and the creation of day-care centers for working women. Members included
Ernestina de Champourcin
,
Elena Fortun
,
Maria Goyri
,
Maria Lejarraga
,
Maria Teresa Leon
,
Carmen Monne Baroja
,
Margarita Nelkin
and
Mabel Perez de Ayala
.
Isabel Oyarzabal
and
Victoria Kent
were vice-presidents and the secretary was
Zenobia Camprubi
.
Princess Victoria Eugenie
and
Maria del Rosario de Silva, Duchess of Alba
held the honorary presidency. The
Lyceum
proved to be very popular and by 1929 its membership had increased to 450, prompting the establishment of a branch in
Barcelona
in 1931.
[4]
Conservative opposition flared up with religious groups and publications condemning the club on its liberal political ideas, its library and what they regarded as its threat to marriage, family, and the Church.
[5]
One priest declared that, "Society should lock them up as mad or criminals instead of allowing them to speak up in this club against all human and divine rules. The moral atmosphere in both the streets and homes would benefit from the hospitalization and imprisonment of these eccentric and unbalanced women."
[6]
Spanish Civil War & Exile
[
edit
]
With the start of the
Spanish Civil War
on 17 July 1936, activities the
Lyceum Club
and the
Residencia de Senoritas
came to an end. In September Maria resigned as director of the Residencia and on 29 October 1936, her brother,
Ramiro
, a right-wing intellectual and member of the
Generation of '98
, was executed by
Republican
soldiers near
Madrid
. Stunned, Maria left Spain for
Buenos Aires
where she became professor at the
University of Buenos Aires
. She returned to Spain just once in 1947 for the funeral of her brother,
Gustavo
. She died in
Mar del Plata
on 7 January 1948 and her body was repatriated to the family mausoleum in
Estella-Lizarra
near
Pamplona
.
[
citation needed
]
During the Civil War the building of the
Residencia de Senoritas
was used as a hospital, nursery and orphanage, and in March 1940 the school re-opened as the
Colegio Mayor
Teresa de Cepeda
under a more conforming administration that was less threatening and suited the mandates of the Church.
[7]
Throughout Spain, in
Alicante
,
Aviles
,
Barakaldo
,
Elche
,
Estella-Lizarra
,
Estepona
,
Galapagar
,
Granada
,
Malaga
,
Puertollano
,
San Sebastian
and
Zaragoza
, there are streets named in honor of Maria de Maeztu. In 2006 the Ministry of Development (Ministerio de Formento) in
Spain
commissioned the
Maritime Safety and Rescue Society
(Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Maritima) to build seven tug boats known as the
Clase Maria de Maeztu
. In addition to towing vessels and helping boats in trouble, these tugs are used to fight fires at sea, combat marine pollution and salvage shipwrecks.
[
citation needed
]
Tugboat
Marta Mata
(BS-14)
[
es
]
from the Maria de Maeztu Class in
Port de Mao
,
Menorca
Writings
[
edit
]
- Historia de la cultura Europea. La edad moderna: grandeza y servidumbre. Intento de ligar de historia preterita a las circunstancias del mundo presente.
Buenos Aires, Juventud Argentina, Bibl. de la Esfinge, (Libros para la Mujer), (1941)
- "La Pedagogia en Londres y las escuelas de parvulos" in
Anales de la Junta para la Ampliacion de Estudios e Investigaciones Cientificas
, Madrid, Impr. y Encuadernacion E. Raso, (1909)
- El trabajo de la mujer: nuevas perspectivas : conferencias pronunciada el dia 8 de abril de 1933
, Madrid: Escuela de Enfermeras del Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja Espanola, (1933)
- El problema de la etica: la ensenanza de la moral
, (1938)
- Historia de la cultura europea
, (1941)
- Antologia-Siglo XX. Prosistas espanoles. Semblanzas y comentarios
, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, (1943)
- Ensayos de Ramiro de Maeztu
(prologo y recoleccion)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"El alma de los Maeztu"
.
Elmundo.es
. 21 March 2016
. Retrieved
16 July
2018
.
- ^
"MAR?A DE MAEZTU, maestra en Bilbao. - SOMORROSTRO"
.
Somo.blogcindario.com
. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2019
. Retrieved
16 July
2018
.
- ^
"protagonistas - centenario de la creacion de la junta para ampliacion de estudios e investigaciones cientificas (1907-1939)"
.
Residencia.csic.es
. Retrieved
16 July
2018
.
- ^
Sarah Leggott
,
The Workings of Memory: Life-writing by Women in Early Twentieth-Century Spain
, (2008), p.39
- ^
Janet Perez & Maureen Ihrie,
The Feminist Encyclopedia of Spanist Literature
, 2002, p.364
- ^
Lesley K. Twomey,
Women in Contemporary Culture: Roles and Identities in France and Spain
, (2000), p.112
- ^
"Archived copy"
. Archived from
the original
on 18 July 2011
. Retrieved
7 January
2011
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link
)
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