Doña The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin ''Dominus'', meaning "lord" or "owner". The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well ...

Asunción de Zea-Bermúdez y Montoya (2 February 1862 - 21 August 1936) was a Spanish writer and essayist.«Asunción de Zea Bermúdez Montoya y Colombi n. 2 Feb 1862 Cuenca, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, España f. 21 Ago 1936 Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, España». www.sologenealogia.com

Biography

Asunción de Zea-Bermúdez y Montoya was born in

Las Pedroñeras Las Pedroñeras is a small town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Province of Cuenca, Cuenca, in the central region of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, southwestern Spain. ...

, Cuenca on 2 February 1862. Her parents were Rosaura Montoya Perea and Fernando Francisco de Zea Bermúdez, the second Count of Colombí. On 18 October 1893 she married Jesús Contreras y Arcas, from which marriage María Esperanza Contreras y Zea Bermúdez (1894-1938) was born, the fourth Countess of Colombí. Throughout her life, Zea-Bermúdez maintained a strong connection with her birthplace, where she spent long periods of time, showing interest in

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

-related topics. As an essayist, she published two books on moral and Christian doctrines: ''Compendio de la doctrina cristiana para el uso del apostolado de las doctrinas'' (Compendium of Christian Doctrine for the Use of the Apostolate of Doctrines) (1903) and ''Influencia de la mujer en la regeneración social de los católicos'' (Influence of Women in the Social Regeneration of Catholics) (1904). The first of these works was widely recommended at the time for primary education. ''La Gaceta de Instrucción Pública'' and ''La Escuela Moderna'' published some provisions in this regard. In ''Compendio'', the author aimed to explain the

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 ...

in a simple manner, so that it could be used as a manual by the group of women who formed the (Associates of the Apostolate of Doctrines). In these works, she expressed great concern for these teachings to reach all social classes, especially the lower classes. Zea-Bermúdez engaged in a public debate with Antonio Castellanos regarding the birthplace of Cervantes, with Zea-Bermúdez maintaining that it could only be

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

, while Castellanos defended

Alcázar de San Juan Alcázar de San Juan is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located in the province of Ciudad Real, autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It lies on the plain of La Mancha. From the 13t ...

as the birthplace. After the discussion, Zea-Bermúdez summarized the conclusions in a work, ''Post Núbila: sobre la verdadera cuna de Cervantes'' (After Clouds: On the True Cradle of Cervantes), which she presented on 24 April 1916 at a literary competition held in

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, for which she received the second prize. In this work, she displayed clear argumentation and subtle irony. «Asunción Zea Bermúdez Escritora ensayista nacida Pedroñeras destacó claridad argumentativa manejo ironía estilo apreciar Post Núbila». Scoopnest In 1929, Zea-Bermúdez wrote the prologue for the work of her fellow townsman, Julián Escudero Picazo, ''Vidas manchegas'' (Manchegan Lives). She died in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 21 August 1936.

Selected works

* ''Compendio de la doctrina cristiana para el uso del apostolado de las doctrinas'' (1903) * ''Influencia de la mujer en la regeneración social de los católicos'' (1904) * ''Post Núbila: sobre la verdadera cuna de Cervantes'' (1916)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zea-Bermudez, Asuncion de 1862 births 1936 deaths People from Cuenca, Spain 20th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century Spanish non-fiction writers 20th-century Spanish women writers Women religious writers Spanish Roman Catholic writers Spanish essayists Noblewomen from Spain Spanish women essayists