María Elena Maseras Explained

María Elena Maseras Ribera (25 May 1853 – 4 December 1905), also known as Elena Maseras, was a Spanish woman who was allowed to enlist as a university student with special dispensation from King Amadeo I in 1872; having been formally admitted to a class in 1875, she was finally allowed to graduate in 1882, which created a precedent allowing women to enroll at universities in Spain from that point on.^[1] She studied medicine at the University of Barcelona, but did not sit the last exam to qualify to practice as a physician, and became a teacher instead.^[2]

Some gardens in the Eixample district were named after her.^[3]

Further reading

• Corbella, Jacinto, and Domenech, Edelmira. "A question of priority: Elena Maseras, Dolors Aleu, Martina Castells," in Proceedings of the First International Congress of the History of Catalan Medicine (Montpellier), 1970, vol. I, pp. 139–142.
• Garcia, Betsabé. Barcelona amb nom de dona, published by Editorial Mediterrània and Barcelona City Council.

Notes and References

1. Consuelo Flecha: Las primeras universitarias en España, 1872-1910. Narcea Ediciones, 1996
2. Book: Katharina Rowold. The Educated Woman: Minds, Bodies, and Women's Higher Education in Britain, Germany, and Spain, 1865-1914. 9 February 2011. Routledge. 978-1-134-62583-3. 232.
3. Web site: Joan Angel Frigola Berbel . Women's names in Barcelona's street nomenclature - El Digital D Barcelona | Barcelona City Council . Eldigital.barcelona.cat . 2015-04-17 . 2015-09-07.