Outsiders: Clara Campoamor

Clara Campoamor (1888-1972) was a Spanish politician, lawyer, and writer, considered by some to be the mother of the Spanish feminist movement. She championed the inclusion of women's suffrage in the 1931 Spanish Constitution and was elected to the Constituent Courts in 1931, becoming one of the first women in Spanish parliament. 

For Further Reading: 

• Clara Campoamor · Pioneering Female Jurists
• Clara Campoamor. Una mujer adelantada a su tiempo 
• Clara Campoamor (1888 – 1972) | WOMAN LEADER  
• La diputada Campoamor y los derechos civiles y políticos de las mujeres

This month we're talking about Outsiders -- women who marched to the beat of their own drum and rejected stereotypes about what women "should" be. They are aesthetic pioneers, norm-benders, and often the only woman in their field.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Adrien Behn, Alyia Yates, Vanessa Handy, Melia Agudelo, and Joia Putnoi. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.

Original theme music by Brittany Martinez.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about outsiders, women who
marched to the beat of their own drum and rejected
stereotypes about what women should be. Their aesthetic pioneers, norm benders,
and often some of the only women in their field.
In the fall of nineteen thirty three, Spanish women voted

(00:24):
for the first time, cementing their active presence in the
nation's democracy. The path to secure this right, of course,
was not easy. The early story of women's suffrage in
Spain has a pioneering protagonist at its center. Meet Clara Campoamore.

(00:46):
Clara was born in Madrid on February twelfth, eighteen eighty eight.
Her father was an accountant and her mother a seamstress.
Her childhood was marked by her father's death, and from
a young age, Clara worked as a dressmaker and a
shop clerk to support her family financially. These responsibilities didn't
stop her from carving out a professional path for herself.

(01:11):
In nineteen oh nine, at the age of twenty one,
Clara obtained a civil servant position in the Postal and
Telegraph Corps. Five years later, she placed first in a
competition through the Ministry of Public Education, which allowed her
to join a group of specialist shorthand and typing instructors
at a school for adults. It was around this time

(01:32):
that Clara began writing for newspapers like Nuevo Erraldo El
Sol and El Tiempo. During the nineteen seventeen Spanish general strike,
which called for political revolution amid socioeconomic instability, Clara developed
an interest in politics. She grew tired of the male
dominance in Spain's governing bodies and the entrenched notion of

(01:54):
women's inferiority. She couldn't sit back and let this persist,
but she felt that in order to the champion wide
scale change, she'd need to return to her studies. Over
the course of four years, she finished both her high
school degree and earned a law degree. At the age
of thirty six, Clara was among the first women to
practice law in Spain. In April of nineteen thirty one,

(02:18):
Spain saw the advent of the Second Republic. Clara felt
this was an opportunity to bring her legal expertise to
the emerging political sphere. She fought against the lack of
legal standing for women in the laws of the time,
particularly for married women who, through marriage, had many of
their rights limited. In this pursuit, Clara became the first

(02:40):
woman to argue a case concerning the legal status of
women before the Spanish Supreme Court. That same year, in
nineteen thirty one, Clara was approached by Alejandro Larux, the
leader of the Radical Republican Party, and offered candidacy for
that year's Constituent Court elections. In an election where women
could run for a position because not vote, two women

(03:01):
were elected, Clara and Victoria Kent of the Radical Socialist Party.
The two of them worked on a committee dedicated to
constructing Spain's constitution. Both Clara and Victoria championed women's suffrage,
but had different visions on how to get there. Clara
felt that women's right to vote should be an immediate priority.
Victoria and other party members sought to postpone the decision,

(03:24):
believing that such a move would ostracize less progressive citizens
from the party and create distrust. This divide came to
a head during a fierce debate on the parliament floor.
Clara doubled down on the imminent need for this right,
stating that not acting now would be a profound political error.

(03:48):
In the end, women's suffrage prevailed one hundred and sixty
one votes in favor compared to one hundred and twenty
one votes against seen thirty one. Constitution of Spain therefore
recognized a woman's right to vote. Clara also used her
parliamentary status to advocate for the regulation of divorce, legal

(04:10):
status of children born out of wetlock, and reforms of
the penal code, but her political convictions would come at
a cost to her career. In the nineteen thirty three elections,
women were able to vote for the first time, but
Clara failed to gain sufficient support and was not reappointed.
She remained in the Laruz administration, but soon left her

(04:32):
post in nineteen thirty six. She sought favor with the
Republican left, but was unpopular within the party. Shortly after,
she penned two books, Women's Suffrage and Me My Mortal
Sin and the Spanish Revolution is Seen by a Republican Woman,
which detail her suffragists struggle, recount her experience of the revolution,
and speak to feelings of political isolation. When the Spanish

(04:57):
Civil War broke out, Clara was banned from Spain by
the National List Franco regime on account of her divisive
political history and Republican allegiance, Clara fled and went into exile.
She sought refuge in Geneva and Buenos Aires before settling
in Lasan, Switzerland. Luzan became her final residence, where she
lived with cancer and other health complications. On April thirtieth,

(05:21):
nineteen seventy two, Clara died. The pioneering work that made
Clara such a polarizing figure in her time has earned
her respect and admiration today. Perhaps Clara knew that that
was the reality of being a trailblazer. As she once said,
I knew that time would justify all my arguments. All month,

(05:44):
we're talking about Outsiders. For more information, find us on
Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.