Today, March 8, International Women’s Day is celebrated, from Huesca La Magia we wanted to collect in this post illustrious women in the province of Huesca throughout history, which either for their work in science, sport, history, etc … They have managed with great effort to change and improve the course of history, or achieve extraordinary sporting milestones.

PETRONILA OF ARAGON

Queen of Aragon. He was born in Huesca in 1.136. Daughter of King Ramiro II the Monk and Agnes of Poitiers.

The year after her birth her father betrothed her to the Count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV. Once the capitulations were signed, Ramiro II retired to San Pedro el Viejo de Huesca and Inés de Poitoers returned to France. Petronila was educated at the county court of Barcelona.

The wedding took place in 1150, with Petronila coming of age. Thus it would be her husband who would manage the territory of Aragon. In 1157 Alfonso II was born, successor to the throne and future king of Aragon. Petronila renounces the rights to the Crown in favour of her son in 1164. He died in 1173 in Barcelona and was buried in the Cathedral of Barcelona.

Today you can visit Barbastro in the month of August to celebrate THE ESPONSALES of PETRONILA DE ARAGÓN and RAMÓN BERENGUER IV. commemorating the birth of the Crown of Aragon. www.donapetronila.es

Source: http://clublasabina.wikispaces.com/Petronila+de+Arag%C3%B3n

Dona Violante of Hungary

(Strigonia, Hungary, 1216- Huesca, 1251)

As Queen of Aragon, after marrying James I the Conqueror, she actively participated in politics, defending the need to reconquer the kingdom of Valencia.

She was the daughter of King of Hungary, Andrew II and the Hungarian Queen Violante of Courtenay, and granddaughter of the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Peter of Courtenay. In 1234 the marriage contract was signed with the King of Aragon. She was a very beautiful twenty-one-year-old woman. She brought a dowry of ten thousand gold marks and territorial rights in France, as a descendant of Louis VI.
Violante exerted a great influence on the life and reign of the monarch, who is said to have consulted all his decisions with her. The queen strove for her eight children to benefit to the detriment of Jaime’s firstborn, the result of a previous marriage.

The remains of Queen Violante of Hungary and those of her daughter Infanta Sancha rest in the presbytery of the female Cistercian Monastery of Vallbona de les Monges, of which she was a great benefactor.

Source: http://clublasabina.wikispaces.com/Do C3 B1a+Violante+de+Hungr%C3%ADa%C3%

Conchita Martinez

Tennis player. He was born on April 16, 1972 in Monzón (Huesca). Known professionally as Conchita Martinez, she started playing tennis at the age of nine. With only ten years she played the championship of Aragon proclaiming herself runner-up.

In 1988 after becoming champion of Spain she came to occupy the position 20 of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA); in 1995 he managed to rise to number 2, reaching the semifinals of all Grand Slam tournaments. In 1993 she won the Rome Open and in 1994 she became the only Spanish tennis player to win the Wimbledon tournament defeating Martina Navratilova.

After 18 years in the world of tennis, on April 15, 2006, Conchita Martínez announced her retirement from the world of competition. On January 12, 2007, the City Council of Zaragoza awarded him the Medal of Sports Merit “Ciudad de Zaragoza”.

Ana Francisca Abarca de Bolea

[Zaragoza, 1602 – Casbas (Huesca), 1685]

Cistercian writer and nun. He was born on April 19, 1602 in Zaragoza. From a family of noble lineage, the Bolea, she is the daughter of Don Martín Abarca de Bolea y Castro, and Doña Ana de Mur. He lived from the age of three in the Royal Monastery of Santa María in the town of Casbas, where he acquired a deep religious and humanistic formation.

His poetry has a sacred and popular character. In some of his poems he uses the Aragonese language, offering us one of the few testimonies of literature with linguistic features of seventeenth-century Aragonese. He died in Casbas (Huesca) around 1685.

Maria Teresa Estevan Bolea

Industrial engineer, and politician. He was born in Huesca in 1936. She is the first woman to be part of the staff of the Corps of Industrial Engineers of the State. As a politician she has been a Member of Parliament and MEP. All the info here >

Carmen Ascaso Ciria

Biologist, microscopist, lichenologist, research doctor and professor. He was born on an agricultural estate called Castillo de Pompién, belonging to the municipality of Lascasas (Huesca) in 1949. It belongs to the Department. of Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC.

She is the founder of the ECOGEO group and specializes in Microbial Ecology of extremely arid environments. In 1994, she published a new scanning electron microscopy technique and in 1997 she was selected worldwide to study the Martian meteorite ALH84001 with her microscopy techniques. More info here >

Maria Josefa Yzuel Gimenez

Physicist, researcher, professor, doctor and academic. He was born in Jaca (Huesca) in 1940. She has been the first woman with a permanent position of the Spanish university teaching staff in the field of Physics.

His research has always focused on the field of Optics, contributing with scientific publications and doctoral theses. More info here >

Susana Mendizábal Albizu

Gymnast, graduate in Physical Sciences and teacher. He was born Jaca (Huesca) in 1962. She competed in both the disciplines of rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics.

She was the first Spanish rhythmic gymnast to achieve, in 1978, a medal in the European Championship. He is a member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Spanish Olympic Committee. More info here >