The Residence for Women Students of Madrid in the Spanish Second Republic: between high culture and social splendor

Abstract

In October of 1915 the Board for Advanced Studies and Scientific Research (JAE) opens in Madrid the Women’s Group of the Students’ Residence, called Women’s Residence (Residencia de Señoritas), with the aim of being the home of women who visited Madrid for studying in University or for getting some culture. Women’s Residence, as well as Students’ Residence, was not only a convenient accommodation; following the inspiration of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, it provided the residents with means of intellectual encouragement and moral improvement. The cultural and social activity of the Women’s Residence, ran by María de Maeztu, was outstanding in the twenties and in the Second Republic until the dramatic cut of the Civil War. This work analyzes the period between 1931 and 1936, using documentary of the Women’s Residence Archive, hemerographic sources of that time and bibliographic sources. The first two years of the Second Republic were vibrant; from 1933 on there is a trend towards to substitute cultural events for basic formative activities directed to non University women. Nevertheless, in the years previous to the Civil War, the Women’s Residence of Madrid was a privileged stage of conferences, soirées and courses of first level, unparalleled with any other women’s educational institution of the time.