Clara Campoamor

Clara Campoamor Rodríguez (12 February 1888 – 30 April 1972) was a Spanish politician, lawyer and writer, considered by some the mother of the Spanish feminist movement. She was one of the main promoters for women's suffrage in Spain, included in the Spanish Constitution of 1931 in part owing to her advocacy. She was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1931, before women were allowed to vote themselves. She later lost her parliamentary seat and briefly served as a government minister, before fleeing the country during the Spanish Civil War. Campoamor died in exile in Switzerland, and was later buried at the Polloe Cemetery in San Sebastian, Spain. Clara Campoamor Rodríguez was born on 12 February 1888 in Madrid, Spain to a working-class family, she began working as a seamstress at age 13, but continued to study part-time on the side, eventually seeking to pass the test that would guarantee her entry into law school. In the interim, she worked her way up through a number of government positions, first with the Post Office in San Sebastián in 1909, then as a typing teacher back in Madrid in 1914. In addition to her job as a teacher, Campoamor became involved in the Madrid political scene through a second job as a journalist at the newspaper La Tribuna, where she got in touch with influential feminine figures of the time, such as Carmen de Burgos and Eva Nelken. These acquaintances led Clara Campoamor to join and collaborate with various feminist associations. and to write political commentary After successfully passing the law school entrance exam and entering the University of Madrid School of Law, Campoamor continued to work multiple jobs; as a teacher, as a secretary for the newspaper, as a typist for the government and as a French translator. After she earned her degree in 1924, aged 36, and entered legal practice, Campoamor began participating in debate and intellectual societies in Madrid. Indeed, she was the second woman to ever incorporate the Madrid Bar Association, the first one to defend a case before the Spanish High Court, and one of the first to represent Spain in the League of Nations.