Rita Fernández Queimadelos facts for kids

Rita Eugenia Fernández Benedicta Queimadelos (1911 – 2008) was a Spanish architect. She was one of the first women in Spain to become an architect. She was also the first female architect in Galicia, a region in Spain. Rita was the first woman architect to officially sign her own building plans in Spain.

Early Life and School

Rita Fernández Queimadelos was born in 1911. Her hometown was A Torre, a small village in Galicia, Spain. Her parents, Domingo and Modesta, were merchants. They owned a shop in the city of Orense. Rita spent her childhood in Orense and her summers in A Torre.

In 1928, Rita moved to Santiago de Compostela to live with her grandmother. She started studying Chemical Sciences at the University of Santiago de Compostela. In 1929, a big change happened: women were allowed to study at the School of Architecture in Madrid for the first time!

Rita moved to Madrid in 1930. She prepared to join the School of Architecture. At 19, in 1930–1931, she got into the school. Her grandmothers helped her, even though her father was not sure at first. She started her architecture studies in 1932. She completed four years of university by 1936. Her studies were stopped because of the Spanish Civil War.

Rita went back to school in 1939. She finished her degree in 1940. She became the third woman architect in Spain. The first was Matilde Ucelay Maortua, who finished in 1936. The second was María Cristina Gonzalo Pintor, who graduated the same year as Rita. In 1941, Rita got her architect license. This made her the first woman to officially sign her own building designs in Spain.

Her Work as an Architect

A building in Fuenlabrada designed by Rita Fernández Queimadelos.

After graduating, one of Rita's teachers, Modesto López Otero, offered her a job. She worked on a project called "Devastated Regions of Madrid" from 1941 to 1946. This project helped rebuild areas damaged by the war. At the same time, she also worked for a real estate company. She designed buildings in Murcia and Madrid. Rita Fernández Queimadelos is thought to be the first freelance architect in Spain. This means she worked for herself, not for a big company.

After her third daughter was born in 1947, Rita took a break from work for eight years. In 1955, she moved to Murcia with her family. There, she opened her own office. From 1960 to 1967, she worked as a provincial architect, building schools. She also worked as the Municipal Architect for the town of Mula from 1962 to 1967.

In 1973, Rita moved to Barcelona. Her husband became a professor at the Central University of Barcelona. Rita mostly stopped working as an architect then. She retired in 1979.

Rita Fernández Queimadelos passed away on September 26, 2008, in Barcelona. She was 97 years old.

Family Life

In May 1942, Rita Fernández Queimadelos married Vicente Iranzo Rubio. He was a science graduate from the Central University of Madrid. They had six children together: Vicente (born 1943), Rita (born 1945), Elena (born 1947), Dolores (born 1948), another daughter who died soon after birth in 1949, and Pilar (born 1952). Sadly, her daughter Elena passed away in 2004.

See also

In Spanish: Rita Fernández Queimadelos para niños