María Moliner facts for kids

María Moliner (born March 30, 1900 – died January 22, 1981) was a famous Spanish librarian and lexicographer. A lexicographer is someone who writes dictionaries. She is most famous for her amazing dictionary, the Diccionario de uso del español. She started working on it in 1952 and finished it in 1966–1967.

Early Life and Education

María Juana Moliner Ruiz was born in Zaragoza, Spain. Her father was a doctor. When she was two, her family moved to Almazán. Later, her father left for Argentina and never came back.

María, her mother, and her siblings faced tough times. She studied hard and earned a history degree in 1921. This was from the University of Zaragoza.

Family and Career

In 1925, María married Fernando Ramón Ferrando. He was a physics graduate. They had four children together. Later, the family moved to Valencia.

In 1946, María became the head librarian. This was at a special engineering school in Madrid. She worked there until she retired in 1970.

Creating the Dictionary

In the early 1950s, María started working on her dictionary. She would wake up very early, around five in the morning. She worked on her dictionary, watered her flowers, and then went to her library job.

After a short nap, she would return to her dictionary work. She found words by reading newspapers. She also listened to how people spoke on the street.

The Idea for the Dictionary

In 1952, María's son brought her a book from Paris. It was a dictionary for English learners. María had noticed that the official Spanish dictionary, the DRAE, had some missing parts.

She was already taking notes on words. The English dictionary gave her the idea to create her own Spanish dictionary. She thought it would take two years. But it actually took more than fifteen years of hard work at home.

Publishing the Dictionary

In 1955, a scholar named Dámaso Alonso noticed her work. He helped María sign a contract with a publisher called Gredos. Publishing her dictionary was a huge and difficult task.

The first edition came out in 1966-1967. It was an instant success. The famous writer Miguel Delibes said it was "a work that justifies a whole lifetime." Later editions were published in 1998 and 2007.

Reading Campaign

The Spanish government supports a reading campaign named after María Moliner. Since 1998, this campaign has helped promote reading. It gives prizes to towns that encourage children and young people to read.

Libraries in towns with fewer than 50,000 people can enter. They can win books for their libraries. The best projects also receive cash prizes.

Relationship with the Royal Spanish Academy

The Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy) is very important. It is the official group that watches over the Spanish language.

In 1972, María Moliner was suggested to join the Academy. Some important scholars supported her. But another linguist was chosen instead.

María said that her only big achievement was her dictionary. She felt that if a man had written it, he would have been admitted.

She was nominated again in 1979. But this time, a female poet was chosen. Even though she wasn't admitted, the Academy gave her the "Lorenzo Nieto López" prize in 1973.

Biographical Play

In June 2013, María Moliner's story became a play. It was called El Diccionario (The Dictionary). It was first performed in Madrid. Later, it was shown in London. The actress Vicky Peña played María Moliner.

Tribute

On March 30, 2019, Google honored María Moliner. They created a special Doodle for her 119th birthday.

See also

In Spanish: María Moliner para niños