Federica Montseny

Madrid, 1905 - Toulousse, 1994

Federica Montseny is often remembered talking from the drawing room of her Toulousse home. She went to exile to France after the Spanish Civil War. She was a charismatic public speaker for women’s rights and she was also Minister of Health at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Her views on female emancipation follow the most important line within Spanish feminism: women’s right to receive a full education. In her youth she saw access to knowledge for women as the key goal of the 20th century.

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Few serenely accept woman’s right and freedom to love.

When she was young the woman question was subjected to heated debate in Spain and Europe. Montseny defended the need for a new social contract, one between a modern man and a modern woman, a new woman that would never be a slave.

I feel great pride and solidarity towards women.

Montseny defends Women on the bases of a very contemporary criteria: empowerment. She is careful not to exclude domestic life from any project of emancipation. The public and the private domain must belong to all. A solid education is the responsibility of the community and will improve the public and private lives of all citizens.

Where can a man be found who is freed from atavism, who understands his rights and responsibilities, and also sees the very same in women, his equal?

Equality in all areas of life is the fundamental challenge of any modernisation project. It is a difficult goal to be achieved only if men and women take joint ownership of it. Montseny´s vision has not lost relevance but has become a goal in this new millennium.