Isabel Urquiola Estala (1854-1911) was a Spanish explorer who in 1874 accompanied her husband

Manuel Iradier Manuel Iradier (b. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Vitoria, 1854–1911) was a Spanish explorer of Africa. A student of philosophy and literature, he fell under the influence of Henry Morton Stanley and turned to exploration. History From 1868-1874 he made p ...

and her younger sister Manuela (or possibly Juliana) on an expedition to Africa. While Iradier travelled some 1,900 km from

Corisco Bay Corisco, Mandj, or Mandyi, is a small island of Equatorial Guinea, located southwest of the Río Muni estuary that defines the border with Gabon. Corisco, whose name derives from the Portuguese word for lightning, has an area of , and its highes ...

up the

Muni River The Muni is an estuary of several rivers of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.''A directory of African wetlands'' By R. H. Hughes, J. S. Hughes, p. 501 (on Google Books Part of its length form part of the border with Gabon. It is from this estuary that ...

, hoping to reach the Spanish colonies in the African interior, the two sisters remained on the island of

Elobey Chico Elobey Chico, or Little Elobey, is a small island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, lying near the mouth of the Mitémélé River. The island is now uninhabited but was once the ''de facto'' colonial capital of the Spanish territory of Río M ...

during his absence. Today Isabel Urquiola and her sister are remembered for the meticulous meteorological data they recorded while spending some eight months on the island. Isabel Urquiola never recovered from her experiences in Africa, having lost a child there and suffered from fever.

Biography

Born in

Vitoria-Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 8 July 1854, Isabel Urquiola Estala was the daughter Domingo de Urquiola, a baker, and Sebastiana de Estala. She attended meetings of ''La Joven Exploradora'', where she met Manuel Iradier who lectured on exotic countries. The two married in Vitoria on 16 November 1874. Inspired by

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Cen ...

, Iradier planned to undertake an exploratory expedition to Africa with his wife and her younger sister. The three set out on their journey on 16 December 1874, taking a mail steamer to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. The following April, they continued on another steamer to the Gulf of Guinea, disembarking at Santa Isabel on the island of Fernando Poo on 16 May 1875. There they were received by the Spanish governor who tried unsuccessfully to dissuade them from continuing their journey to Elobey Chico on the grounds that the island lacked drinking water and was no longer under Spanish protection. Undeteered, they continued their journey, reaching the island two days later. Shortly after their arrival on the little island, from June 1875 the two sisters undertook careful monitoring of the weather conditions up to eight times a day. Even during the lengthy absences of Iradier who was exploring the

, they systematically recorded temperature, relative humidity and windspeed for a full seven months until December 1875. The detail of the records is exceptional for the period. While on Elobey Chico, Isabel Urquiola became pregnant. On their return to Santa Isabel, their daughter, Isabel, was born in January 1876 but died of malaria on 28 November. Isabel Urquiola worked as a teacher in a school for girls in Santa Isabel but did not receive the salary she had been promised. Despite formal complaints, it was not adjusted and she and her sister returned to Spain in March 1877, followed shortly afterwards by her husband. Isabel de Urquiola died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

on 16 September 1911.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urquiola, Isabel 1854 births 1911 deaths People from Vitoria-Gasteiz Spanish explorers 19th-century travel writers Spanish travel writers Women travel writers