Antonia Ferrín Moreiras facts for kids

Antonia Ferrín Moreiras (born May 13, 1914, in Ourense – died August 6, 2009, in Santiago de Compostela) was a brilliant mathematician and professor. She was also the first female Galician astronomer.

Antonia made important discoveries in astronomy. She studied how stars are hidden by the moon (called stellar occultations). She also measured double stars and made other precise measurements of stars. She figured out how to determine when stars passed through certain points in the sky. She did all this amazing work at the Observatory of the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC).

Before the Spanish Civil War, Antonia earned degrees in chemistry and pharmacy from the USC. She also got her teaching diploma. She studied mathematics, which was called Exact Sciences back then. Later, she completed her mathematics degree at the Complutense University of Madrid.

In 1963, she became the first Spanish woman to write and defend a thesis about astronomy. Her thesis was titled Observaciones de pasos por dos verticales, which means Observations of passages of stars through two verticals. This was also the very first thesis defended in the Faculty of Mathematics at the USC.

Antonia faced financial challenges, so she had to study and work at the same time. However, she received scholarships that helped her achieve her academic dreams.

Antonia Ferrín Moreiras: A Life of Learning

Early Life and Education

Antonia Ferrín Moreiras was born in Ourense, Spain, on May 13, 1914. She was the third of four daughters. Her father was a mathematics teacher. He strongly believed that all his daughters—Antonia, Celsa, María, and Pastora—should go to college. This was unusual for the time, especially for a family with limited money.

To help his daughters get a good education, the family moved to Santiago de Compostela in 1920. Antonia started school when she was seven. By age nine, she was ready for high school. She completed her Scientific Bachillerato, which is like a high school diploma for students over 16 in Spain. After that, she finished the University Bachillerato, which was needed to get into college. She was one of only twelve girls in her class.

College and First Jobs

Antonia began her college studies at the Faculty of Sciences of the USC. At that time, chemistry was the only main subject offered there. Her father worked at the Faculty of Pharmacy, but his income was not enough to cover her tuition. So, Antonia received free tuition and scholarships. Thanks to this support, she earned a degree in chemistry and became a schoolteacher in 1935.

She started working right after graduating, but her first jobs were unpaid. From 1934 to 1936, Antonia worked as a training assistant teacher of physics and mathematics at the USC. She also worked as a temporary assistant teacher at a high school in Santiago de Compostela. At the same time, she was studying for a pharmacy degree. She also took the only two mathematics courses offered at the USC. In 1937, she became a mathematics teacher at a girls' school, where she taught until 1948.

Challenges and Astronomy

In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Antonia faced a big challenge. An anonymous complaint led to her being removed from her university teaching job. She was one of 45 teachers affected. However, in 1940, her case was reviewed, and the decision was reversed. She was able to teach again. After this, she returned to university teaching and also continued giving lessons at the girls' school until 1961.

During the 1939–1940 school year, Antonia finished the courses needed for her pharmacy degree. This was when she met Ramón María Aller. He was the founder and director of the Astronomical Observatory of the USC. Ramón María Aller played a key role in helping Antonia become the first female Galician astronomer.

At the observatory, Antonia learned to use special tools like the passage instrument and a 12 cm (4.7 in) refracting telescope. These tools allowed her to observe amazing things. She watched how the moon hid stars and how stars passed through specific points in the sky. She also made precise measurements of double stars. The results of her research were published in Urania, a Spanish astronomy magazine. Antonia often joked about how cold it was in the observatory. She never wore trousers because, as she said, they were "not considered feminine" back then.

Research and Doctorate

In 1950, Antonia received a scholarship from the Spanish National Research Council. This allowed her to do more research at the Astronomical Observatory of Santiago. Two years later, this scholarship turned into a research assistant contract. In the same year, she earned her mathematics degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. She had been a guest student for the last three years of that degree.

In 1953, she passed the exams to become a mathematics professor at a teaching college in Santander. However, two years later, she moved to a girls' school in Santiago.

From 1954 to 1956, Antonia studied in Madrid to earn her doctorate in astronomy. During this time, she also helped Professor Vidal Abascal create the mathematics degree at the USC. This new degree program started in 1957. Antonia became the first female professor in this new faculty. She continued her research under the guidance of Ramón María Aller.

Her thesis, which she defended in 1963, was a huge achievement. Even though Aller was 80 years old, he helped her. It was the first thesis defended in the Faculty of Mathematics of the USC. More importantly, it was the first astronomy thesis defended by a woman in Spain. In 1963, she became a full-time mathematics professor in Madrid. She also taught mathematics for two years in the medicine program. She taught astronomy and celestial mechanics, managed departments, and served on selection committees. She also took part in the first international mathematics meetings held in Spain.

Despite her impressive career, being a woman sometimes created obstacles. For example, when Aller became ill in 1964, a replacement was needed for his astronomy position. Antonia applied, but she was initially excluded. After she complained, she was considered, but the position was never filled. As a result, the observatory declined.

Antonia Ferrín Moreiras retired in 1984.

Honors

On May 24, 2008, Antonia Ferrín Moreiras was honored as the patroness of the fiftieth anniversary of the Faculty of Mathematics of the USC.

Named After Her

• A lecture room at the Faculty of Mathematics of the USC.
• An award for creating educational materials that promote gender equality at the University of Vigo.

See also

In Spanish: Antonia Ferrín Moreiras para niños