Antonia Rufina Maymón Giménez (18 July 1881 – 20 December 1959) was a Spanish rationalist

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

, militant

naturist Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

, and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

who published books on various topics.

Biography

Antonia Rufina Maymón Giménez was born on 18 July 1881, in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, to an Aragonese family. She studied to be a teacher in the of

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, a city where she also married professor Lorenzo Lagoon, an anarchist. For her membership in the National Committee against the war in Morocco, she was tried and convicted, along with Teresa Claramunt and Josefa Lopez. In those years, she published her first newspaper articles in various anarchist journals, as ''La Enseñanza Moderna'' () and ''Cultura y Acción'' (). The couple was exiled to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in 1911, but she received amnesty two years later after the death of her husband. Upon her return, she spoke at rallies across the country and worked as a teacher in schools in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Sant Feliu de Guíxols Sant Feliu de Guíxols () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district ...

Elda Elda (; , ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Alicante, Spain. , it has a total population of 55,618 inhabitants, ranking as the 7th most populous city in the province. Elda joins together with the town of Petrer to form a ...

and

Beniaján Beniaján is a village located in the Region of Murcia (Spain), beside the mountains that close the Valley of Segura. It has a population of around 11,000, and is not far from the region's capital, Murcia. Beniaján is known for the abundant prod ...

. Driving the naturist movement in Spain, she participated in and presided over congresses on these ideals in

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

and

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

. After the proclamation of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, she moved to Beniaján, where she settled permanently. There, she gave rallies for the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

(CNT), held a school in her own home and developed an intense social work program among the needy. In 1932, she published ''Estudios Racionalistas'', where she exhibited her educational thoughts regarding children's education regardless of social class. At the end of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, she was convicted and imprisoned until 1944. Two years later, she was arrested and imprisoned again for almost a year. Her health impaired, she returned to her home Beniaján where she gave private lessons. She died in a local hospital on 20 December 1959.

Selected works

Non-fiction

* ''Anarquismo y naturismo'' (1925) - ''Anarchism and Naturism'' * ''Hacia el ideal'' (1927) - ''Toward the Ideal'' * ''Amamos'' (1932), with others - ''We Love'' * ''Humanidad libre. Esbozo racionalista - Free humanity. rationalist sketch''

Novels

* ''Madre'' (1925) -''Mother'' * ''La perla'' (1927) -''The Pearl'' * ''El hijo del camino'' (1931) - ''The Son of the Road''

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Movimiento de Renovación Pedagógica 'Antonia Maymón'
(in Spanish)
Artículo sobre Antonia Maymón en 'Rojo y Negro' (CNT)
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maymon, Antonia 1881 births 1959 deaths People from Madrid 20th-century Spanish writers 20th-century Spanish politicians Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Rationalists Naturism in Spain Spanish feminists Spanish women novelists Social nudity advocates Spanish women trade unionists 20th-century Spanish educators 20th-century Spanish women writers 20th-century Spanish women educators