Isabel Muñoz-Caravaca (b. 3 August 1838,

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 ...

— d. 28 March 1915,

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

teacher, journalist,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

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activist, ecologist, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

active in Guadalajara until 1910.

Life and work

Isabel Muñoz-Caravaca was born to an aristocratic parents Francisco and Alejandra de Alcázar in

, Spain on 3 August 1838 and did not live a happy childhood by her recollection. She studied in Madrid and in Paris, receiving tutoring in music and the French language at the

Madrid Royal Conservatory The Madrid Royal Conservatory ( es, Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid) is a music college in Madrid, Spain. History The Royal Conservatory of Music was founded on July 15, 1830, by royal decree, and was originally located in Mosten ...

with Manuel de la Mata. On 7 December 1874, she married Ambrosio Moya de la Torre y Ojeda, a professor at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

who was 26 years her senior. She had three children and lived a comfortable life until her husband died in January 1895, leaving her a widow. She then broke convention by entering the

Atienza Atienza () is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 437 inhabitants. The Castle of Atienza is situated here. There were ancient Celtiberian sett ...

Girls' School, where she soon found pedagogical work at the age of 47. Her teaching was not limited to the Girls' School; she began to hold a night school to teach adult workers at the same time she was preparing schoolgirls to enter the normal school in

. She stayed in Atienza until her oldest son Jorge became an assistant to the provincial board of education in 1910. From 1898 to 1899, Muñoz-Caravaca began her journalistic activities in Guadalajara by writing about local history for the paper ''Atienza Illustrated'' and became a regular contributor to the publication ''Flores y Abejas'' (''Flowers and Bees'') from 1900 to 1914. In 1899, she published the ''Principles of Arithmetic'' in Madrid, a text based on her teaching of mathematics in Atienza that came complete with exercises, questions and tables. At the beginning of the 20th century, she also published in Madrid the ''Elements of the Solfeggio Theory'', a book that facilitated the teaching of music. Muñoz-Caravaca published numerous articles in the left-leaning weekly publication ''La Alcarria Obrera''; it is possible that she wrote under the pseudonym El Republicano between 1902 and 1905. Muñoz-Caravaca resigned from her teaching position in 1902 in the face of resistance from local government and ecclesiastical entities (she often refused to work with teachers' associations), though she promoted the construction of a new school in Atienza, which closed in 1916. A budding

, she installed a

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

in her home and traveled in August 1905 to

Almazán Almazán () is a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 5,843 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the judicial district of Almazán, and ecclesiastically it belongs ...

with the

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to observe the eclipse. This scientific was criticized by Madrid magazine ''Gideon'', prompting angry response from Muñoz-Caravaca through ''Flores y Abejas''. In 1914, Muñoz-Caravaca became ill with cancer, and she died of it in the dawn of 28 March 1915.

Life and work

References

Further reading