Carmina Virgili (1927–2014): The Woman geologist Behind Spain's Modern Science Policy

Carmina Virgili was born in Barcelona in 1927 into a wealthy yet progressive family. Her parents supported her desire to pursue a university degree at a time when it was still uncommon for women to do so. She graduated in Natural History in 1949. Her close relationship with her mother, a pharmacist, was strengthened through countless field trips, first collecting plants and later making geological observations. She devoted her doctoral thesis to the study of Triassic stratigraphy. In 1963, she became the first woman to hold a professorship at the University of Oviedo and only the third in Spain. Her arrival was not well received by the almost exclusively male faculty; nevertheless, she demonstrated strong leadership in this adverse environment. In 1968, she moved to the Complutense University of Madrid, where she continued her research and teaching until she was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Geological Sciences, the first woman in Spain to hold such position.

Carmina was also deeply involved in Spain's political transformation. She joined the Socialist Party (PSOE) in 1972, before the transition to democracy. In 1977, during the first democratic government, she was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Geology. When the Socialist Party won the 1982 elections, she became Secretary of State for Universities and Research. This role required her to set aside her beloved research to focus on modernizing the Spanish university system, a process reflected in the University Reform Law and the Science Law. One of her most significant contributions was promoting the internationalization of Spanish universities. A few years later, she directed the College of Spain in Paris, where she worked tirelessly to promote cultural exchange. In 1996, she resumed her political activity as a senator.

Her scientific excellence and personal qualities enabled her to overcome widespread gender prejudice and reach the highest positions in Spanish scientific administration. Her passion for geology and her commitment to democracy and freedom earned her numerous awards and recognitions from universities and from the governments of France and Spain. She died in 2014, and by donating her body to science, she extended her dedication to research beyond her lifetime.