Trinidad Arroyo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Trinidad Arroyo
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Bust of Arroyo in Palencia, Spain
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Trinidad Arroyo Villaverde
26 May 1872 Palencia, Spain
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| Died | 28 September 1959 (aged 87) Mexico City, Mexico
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| Education | University of Madrid (1896) |
| Occupation | Ophthalmologist |
Trinidad Arroyo Villaverde (born May 26, 1872 – died September 28, 1959) was a pioneering Spanish eye doctor, also known as an ophthalmologist. She made history by becoming the first woman eye doctor in Spain. She was also one of the first women in Spain to earn a doctorate degree, which she received in 1896.
Trinidad Arroyo taught and did research at the University of Madrid. She also ran an eye clinic with her husband, Manuel Márquez. They had to leave Spain in 1939 because of the Spanish Civil War. They moved to Mexico City and continued their medical practice there for the rest of their lives.
Contents
Early Life and School
Trinidad Arroyo was born in Palencia, Spain, on May 26, 1872. Her family was middle class, and her father owned a dry cleaning business. From 1883 to 1888, she attended a school called Instituto Libre de Segunda Enseñanza in Palencia. She was the very first girl student at this school.
After that, Arroyo went to the University of Valladolid to study medicine. Getting into the university was not easy for her. The university had a rule against women students since 1882. Her father had to speak to the director of public education. Trinidad also had to take a special test to prove she was smart enough. She was finally allowed to enroll in December 1888 and studied there from 1889 to 1895.
While at Valladolid, Trinidad became very interested in surgery. However, she decided to specialize in ophthalmology, which is the study of eyes. She liked the careful and precise work involved in eye care. She also felt that this field might be more welcoming to women doctors.
Becoming an Eye Doctor
After graduating from Valladolid, Arroyo went to the University of Madrid. There, she worked on her doctorate degree. She studied under a professor named Santiago de los Albitos.
In 1896, she defended her long paper, which was 149 pages. It was titled Músculos intrínsecos del ojo en estado normal y patológico, acción de los medicamentos. This means "Intrinsic eye muscles in normal and diseased states, the effects of medication." She was only the third woman in Spain to earn a doctorate. She was the first to get one in a subject other than women's health. This made her the first woman ophthalmologist in Spain. She continued to study eye muscles even after getting her doctorate.
Career and Later Life
In 1898, Trinidad Arroyo opened an eye clinic in Palencia. She worked with her brother, Benito, who had also studied ophthalmology. On February 6, 1902, she married another eye doctor, Manuel Márquez. He always encouraged her to follow her scientific dreams, even when society made it hard for women in science. Sadly, her brother Benito, who had introduced Trinidad and Manuel, died shortly after in 1903.
For two years, starting in 1906, Trinidad and Manuel lived in Galicia. Manuel had a job at the University of Santiago de Compostela there.
Helping People in Madrid
Arroyo and her husband later opened an eye clinic in Madrid. It was in their home, which was improved by Trinidad's architect cousin, Jerónimo Arroyo. One famous person Trinidad treated was the writer Benito Pérez Galdós. She is credited with saving him from going blind.
Besides their private clinic, Arroyo also worked with several important groups. These included the Consultorio de Niños Pecho, the Instituto Rubio, and the Asilo de Santa Lucía. Trinidad could speak Spanish, English, French, and German. This was very helpful for her work, as she could represent these groups to people in other countries.
Teaching at the University
Trinidad Arroyo and her husband also taught at the University of Madrid. She was the first woman to teach at the University of Madrid, working as an assistant professor. She did a lot of research in eye care. Her studies included topics like using certain medicines for eye problems, eye pain relief, and how to diagnose and treat eye tuberculosis.
Even with all her hard work, she was not given the same rights as her male co-workers. She was never made a full professor. She was also not allowed to publish her research through the university.
Moving to Mexico
When the Spanish Civil War began, Arroyo helped treat wounded people. In 1937, she and her husband traveled to the Soviet Union. Because of this trip and their support for the Republican faction, they became targets of the other side, the Nationalist faction, in 1939.
Trinidad and her husband had to escape to Mexico. They settled in Mexico City. The Mexican government welcomed Spanish people who had to leave their country. Trinidad and Manuel quickly became part of the group of Spanish thinkers living in Mexico. They continued to work as eye doctors there.
Trinidad officially became a Mexican citizen on October 29, 1940. She was one of the few Spanish exiles to do so. She only returned to Spain once, in 1955. She went to set up scholarships for students. Since she and her husband had no children, they decided to leave their money to students in Spain. She chose the Instituto Libre de Segunda Enseñanza as the school to receive her donation. This was the school that first allowed her to begin her studies.
Trinidad Arroyo died in Mexico City on September 28, 1959. Her husband died three years later, and they were buried next to each other in Mexico City.
Politics and Women's Rights
Trinidad Arroyo was active in politics. She was the vice president of a group called the National Committee of Anti-fascist Women. She also worked to build stronger connections between the Soviet Union and Spain.
Arroyo believed in education and work rather than just charity. She was a very strong supporter of women's education, as she had benefited from it herself. During the Spanish Civil War, she became involved in groups that supported women's rights. These included the Lyceum Club Femenino and the Spanish Association of Women Physicians. She also wrote a column about women's rights in a journal called Spanish Social Medicine.
Trinidad Arroyo might have been the first woman to vote in a Spanish Senate election. She was allowed to vote because she was a member of the university faculty. She cast her vote in 1916. This was 17 years before women in Spain were generally allowed to vote. It is not known if any other woman in Spain had voted before this day.
See also
In Spanish: Trinidad Arroyo para niños
