Women in the academy: the beginnings of the female presence in our corporation

Abstract

On January 6, 1932 Domingo Barnés Salinas, member of the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, directed by Fernando de los Ríos, in the second government of Manuel Azaña, agreed to the desire of the Royal College of Pharmacists of Madrid, to modify the name of this Corporation by the “Spanish Academy of Pharmacy”, in order to mark more clearly its objectives of “promoting and propagating the advances of Pharmaceutical Science, promote culture and contribute to the prestige of pharmacists”. Of the 200 members that made up the Royal College of Pharmacists of Madrid at the beginning of 1932, all pharmacists and residents in Madrid, only eight were women, a very small number that we have to analyze within the social situation and the role of women at the time; simply the difficulties they had to pursue university studies was a challenge. After the Civil War, and the corresponding purges, those former academics who wished to continue belonging to the Cororation were obliged to present the corresponding request. No woman presented her candidacy for full member, only three remained in the status of corresponding Academics: Josefina Bayle, Ascensión Mas-Guindal Calderero and Petra Ascensión Vidal Piazuelo. Since 1946, by a decree signed by José Ibáñez Martín, Minister of National Education, the National Academy of Pharmacy was incorporated into the Institute of Spain, but we do not know the entry of a woman to this Corporation until 1955, then María Dolores Stamm Menéndez will be incorporated, as the corresponding academic. After her, some were admitted until, in 1987, a woman reached the recognition of excellence as a number Academic, it will be María Cascales Angosto, the first to achieve it since our Coproración was part of the Institute of Spain. The road that these women had to travel to reach the maximum recognition, as in other scientific or academic institutions, was long and – not infrequently – full of difficulties. Our purpose is to analyze who these pioneers were and what were the means and ways that led them to achieve their objectives. Our research aims to re-integrate their names into history, record their effort, dedication and perseverance and value their scientific excellence; for this we will use, basically, the documents preserved in the Archive of the Royal National Academy of Pharmacy. Keywords: women; academy; academy of pharmacy; Madrid; Spain