Rita Fernández Queimadelos
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1911
Rita Fernández Queimadelos | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rita Eugenia Fernández Benedicta Queimadelos 1911 A Torre, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain |
| Died | September 26, 2008 (aged 96–97) Barcelona, Spain |
| Occupation | architect |
Rita Eugenia Fernández Benedicta Queimadelos (1911 - 26 September 2008) was a Spanish architect. She is considered the second,[1] sometimes the third female architect in Spain.[2] The first female architect to officially sign her own architectural projects in the state. She is also the first female architect in Galicia.[3]
Rita Fernández Queimadelos was born in 1911 in A Torre, a village in the municipality of A Cañiza, in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain.[4] She was a daughter of Domingo Fernández y Fernández and Modesta Queimadelos Vázquez, merchants and owners of a haberdashery in the center of Orense.[3] Fernández Queimadelos spent her childhood mainly in Orense and in A Torre during the summer holidays.[4]
In 1928, she moved to Santiago de Compostela to live with her grandmother.[3] There Fernández Queimadelos started her studies at the University of Santiago de Compostela by taking two courses in Chemical Sciences.[5] In 1929, women gained access to the School of Architecture in Madrid for the first time.[2] In 1930, Fernández Queimadelos moved to Madrid and stayed at the Residencia de Señoritas to prepare for admission to the School of Architecture.[1] In the academic year 1930–1931, at the age of 19, she ultimately won admission to the School of Architecture in Madrid with the help of both her grandmothers and despite her father's initial objections.[2] In 1932–33, Fernández Queimadelos entered the School and attended the so-called Preparatory Course 1, the first year of a total of six.[3] Between 1932 and 1936 she finished four years at the university when her studies were interrupted by Spanish Civil War.[4] In 1939-1940 Fernández Queimadelos continued her studies graduating in 1940.[6] She became the third female architect in Spain after Matilde Ucelay Maortua who graduated in 1936, and María Cristina Gonzalo Pintor who graduated the same year as Fernández Queimadelos.[4]
In 1941 Fernández Queimadelos acquired her architect license becoming the first female architect to officially sign her own architectural projects in Spain.[2]
