Gloria Margarita Comesaña Santalices (5 December 1946 – 18 March 2024) was a Spanish feminist philosopher based in Venezuela. She was co-founder of the Maracaibo Feminist League and the Maracaibo Women's House, as well as co-founder of the Venezuelan University Network of Women's Studies (Reuevem) and in 1991, founding coordinator of the Free Women's Course at the

University of Zulia The University of Zulia (, also known as LUZ literally meaning "light" in Spanish), is a public university whose main campus is located in the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela. LUZ is one of the largest and most important universities of Venezuela. ...

Biography

As a philosopher, Comesaña holds a PhD in philosophy from the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University, France. She has specialized in women's studies, has developed an extensive career both as a teacher and writer, and has developed her own work, publishing numerous works on contemporary philosophy and feminist theory in national and international journals, as well as several books. Her works include ''Mujer, Poder y Violencia, Filosofía, Feminismo y Cambio Social'' and ''La alteridad: estructura ontológica de las relaciones entre los sexos''. She has studied the currents of

Sartrean Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French phi ...

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a materialist theory based upon the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that has found widespread applications in a variety of philosophical disciplines ranging from philosophy of history to philosophy of scien ...

ecotheology Ecotheology is a form of constructive theology that focuses on the interrelationships of religion and nature, particularly in the light of environmental concerns. Ecotheology generally starts from the premise that a relationship exists between ...

and

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

's work. Among the philosophers and thinkers she has admired are

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (; ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. His 1913 work ''General Psychopathology'' influenced many ...

Gabriel Marcel Gabriel Honoré Marcel (7 December 1889 – 8 October 1973) was a French philosopher, playwright, music critic and leading Christian existentialist. The author of over a dozen books and at least thirty plays, Marcel's work focused on the moder ...

and the theologian

Rosemary Radford Ruether Rosemary Radford Ruether (; 2 November 1936 – 21 May 2022) was an American Catholic feminist theologian known for her significant contributions to the fields of feminist theology and ecofeminist theology. Her teaching and her writings helped e ...

. In a philosophy magazine of the University of Zulia (LUZ) she denied that she had been a disciple of

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

(one of the founders of feminist thought of the 20th century), an urban legend, although she attended a cycle of lectures by Beauvoir at the University of Paris I. At LUZ she taught in the doctoral programs in human sciences and architecture. She has been a visiting professor at the Catholic University Cecilio Acosta and research advisor to the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology of said university. Comesaña was co-founder of the Maracaibo Feminist League along with Gladys Tinedo, Mary Pampolini, Fátima Borges, Beatriz Rincón, Consuelo Arconada, Alba Carosio, Trina Erebrie and Teresa Sosa, and of the Maracaibo Women's House. She was founder and coordinator of the Free Women's Course at the School of Philosophy of the University of Zulia and is co-founder of the Venezuelan University Network of Women's Studies (Reuevem). She was also producer of the radio program ''Todas a Una'' on university radio.

Selected works

* ''Alineación y Libertad: la doctrina sartreana del otro'' * ''Análisis de las figuras femeninas en el teatro sartrean'' * ''Mujer, Poder y Violencia'' * ''Filosofía, Feminismo y Cambio Social'' * ''De métodos y filosofía feminista'' * ''La alteridad: estructura ontológica de las relaciones entre los sexos'' * ''El machismo, ideología nefasta''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comesaña, Gloria 1946 births 2024 deaths University of Zulia alumni Venezuelan women writers Spanish women writers Venezuelan women philosophers Spanish women philosophers Venezuelan feminists Spanish feminists Spanish emigrants to Venezuela People from Vigo People from Maracaibo