Professor Carmina Virgili or Carmina Virgili i Rodon (19 June 1927 – 21 November 2014) was a Spanish professor in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

and a politician.

Life

Virgili was born 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 ...

on 19 June 1927. She was the youngest of two children born to Guillem Virgili and Carme Rodón Pelegri. Her mother was a pharmacist who sometimes taught in the school of agriculture. During 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 ...

, they lived in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .Igualada Igualada () is a municipality and capital of Anoia county in Penedès, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the left bank of the Anoia River and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona Railway. Igualada is the capital and central ...

.Carmina Virgili Rodon
10 March 2015, icog.es, Retrieved 5 November 2015 Virgil entered the University of Barcelona where she took the geographer Salvador Llovet as a mentor. She was a keen student who had the active support of her family. After gaining an honours degree in Natural Science in 1949 she went into teaching at schools in the area of the Catalan county of

Vallès El Vallès (or simply Vallès) is a historical county in Catalonia, Spain, located in the center of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. It is nowadays represented by two separate administrative divisions (Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarques'') which a ...

. Whilst she was teaching she co-authored an introductory textbook for the natural sciences. This book was successful and ran to many editions. In August 1953 Barcelona university created a degree in Geology which they separated from the subject of Natural Sciences. Virgili joined the new department. She gained a doctorate in geology in 1956 at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

. In 1963 she became the first woman professor at the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History Th ...

. She was the third woman to become a professor in Spain. She was the first Dean in 1977. From 1982 to 1985 she was Junior Minister for Universities and Research. From 1996 to 2000 she was a

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (, PSC–PSOE) is a social democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping, led by Josep Pallach i Carolà, the Socia ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

active in commissions on euthanasia, risk assessment or Iberoamerican relationships.Carmina Virgili
, Alfredo Arche, Retrieved 31 October 2015 In 2008 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Genoa The University of Genoa () is a public research university. It is one of the largest universities in Italy and it is located in the city of Genoa, on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy. The original university was fou ...

. She wrote over 100 publications and she received numerous honours including a Gold Medal from the University of Barcelona in 2011 and emeritus professorship at the

Universidad Complutense The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

.Professor Carmina Virgili, Gold Medal of the UB, dies
University of Barcelona<, Retrieved 31 October 2015 Virgili died in

on 21 November 2014. She died single, without children, and left her body to science.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgili, Carmina 1927 births 2014 deaths Scientists from Catalonia Scientists from Barcelona Spanish geologists 20th-century Spanish women scientists Spanish women scientists Politicians from Catalonia Members of the Senate of Spain Complutense University of Madrid