Victoria Kent
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Victoria Kent Siano (March 6, 1897 – September 25, 1987) was a Spanish
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
and republican politician.


Biography

Born in
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 ...
, Spain, Kent was affiliated to the Radical Socialist Republican Party and came to fame in 1930 for defending – at a court martial – Álvaro de Albornoz, who shortly afterward would go on to become minister of justice and later the future president of the Republican government in exile (1947 to 1949 and 1949 to 1951). She became a member of the first Parliament 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. ...
in 1931. That same year, the President of the Republic,
Niceto Alcalá-Zamora Niceto Alcalá-Zamora y Torres (6 July 1877 – 18 February 1949) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who served, briefly, as the first prime minister of the Second Spanish Republic, and then—from 1931 to 1936—as its president. Early life ...
, appointed her Director General of Prisons, a post she held until 1934, and she actively continued the reforms in the prison service that had been started by
Concepción Arenal Concepción Arenal Ponte ( Ferrol, 31 January 1820 – Vigo, 4 February 1893) was a graduate in law, thinker, journalist, poet and Galician dramatic author within the literary Realism and pioneer in Spanish feminism. Born in Ferrol, Galicia, ...
. Kent was against giving women the
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...
immediately, arguing that, as Spanish women lacked at that moment enough social and political education to vote responsibly, they would be very much influenced by the Catholic priests, causing damage to left-wing parties. She got into more controversy on this subject with another feminist in the parliament, Clara Campoamor. This caused her certain unpopularity and, when women were given the right to vote, she lost her seat – as she had predicted – to the conservative majority in 1933. After 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 ...
, Kent went into
exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, but soon moved on to the United States. In
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
she published the ''Ibérica'' review from 1954 to 1974, which featured news for Spaniards exiled in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. She died in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
in 1987, and is buried alongside her partner Louise Crane at Umpawaug Cemetery,
Redding, Connecticut Redding is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,765 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Regi ...
. Colleges in
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 ...
,
Fuenlabrada Fuenlabrada () is a city and municipality of Spain located in the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,586, making it the region's fourth most populated municipality. Placename The etymology of ''Fuenlabrada'' comes from the contra ...
,
Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
,
Torrejón de Ardoz Torrejón de Ardoz () is a municipality of Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. The European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen), an agency of the European Union, is located in Torrejón de Ardoz. It is also the location of the headquarters of ...
(''Instituto de Educación Secundaria Victoria Kent''), and a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
in her hometown of Málaga have been named after Kent. Historians have not adequately discussed her lesbianism.


Political life

Shortly after her arrival in Madrid, Kent joined the ''Asociación Nacional de Mujeres Españolas y la Juventud Universitaria Femenina'' (a women's rights organization), directed by Maria Espinosa de los Monteros. She represented this entity at a conference in Prague in 1921. After affiliating the Radical Socialist Republican Party, she was elected as a member of the Parliament of the Republican-Socialist Conjunction of the Republican Court in 1931. In the election on February 16, 1936, Kent was elected member of the Parliament in Jaen, for the Republican Left, which was a part of the Popular Front. She was also vice president of the Lyceum Club, beginning in 1926.


Opposition to women's suffrage

One of the most outstanding and controversial moments in Kent's personal and political life would be her opposition to women's suffrage before the Spanish Parliament in 1931, when she faced another feminist, Clara Campoamor, in a dialectical and significant battle on an issue that would have a great effect on the rights of women. She declared that Spanish women were not socially and politically prepared to vote. According to her, Spanish women were also heavily influenced by the Church and their vote would be conservative and harmful to the Republic. On the contrary, Campoamor defended that women had the right to vote, as she defended the equality of all human beings. After this debate, Kent lost her popularity and therefore did not take part in Parliament in the 1933 elections. Campoamor finally won the debate against Kent in 1933 and this allowed women to be able to vote by universal suffrage. The 1933 elections were won by the right wing as it was united.


Spanish Civil War

Due to the outbreak 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 ...
, Kent was forced to go into exile like many other Republicans. As she was going into exile, she helped children whose fathers were soldiers about to be evacuated. She took refuge in Paris, and was named First Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in the capital so that she could continue taking care of refugee children. She was also responsible for the creation of shelters and nurseries for the same purpose.


Second World War

Kent remained in Paris until the end of the Civil War, helping Spanish exiles in the capital and those awaiting their departure to America. However, at the beginning of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Paris was occupied on June 14, 1940, by the Wehrmacht (German Army). Kent was forced to take refuge in the Mexican Embassy for a year. She was put on trial in absentia by Franco's courts and in October 1943, when she was still in Paris, she was sentenced to prison for 30 years, expelling her from Spanish territory. Fortunately, the Red Cross gave her an apartment in
Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
(north of France), where she lived until 1944, protected by a fake identity. During that time, "Madame Duval" being her false identity, she wrote ''Cuatro Años en París'', a novel with autobiographical aspects reflected in the main character, Placido.


Exile

Kent went into exile in Mexico in 1948. She worked there for two years teaching criminal law at the university. In 1950, she was hired by the UN, and left Mexico for New York, where she worked for the social defense and led a study based on the poor conditions of prisons in Latin America. Between 1951 and 1957, she left her previous job and became minister without portfolio of the Second Spanish Republic's government in exile. This made her the second female minister after Federica Montseny. She also founded the magazine "Iberica," which appealed to all the exiles that lived far from their homeland like her. This magazine was financed by her partner Louise Crane for twenty years (1954–1974). In 1977, forty years after her exile in France, Kent returned to Spain and was welcomed with affection and admiration. However, she returned to New York where she spent her last days, and died on September 26, 1987. In 1986, she was awarded the medal of ''San Raimundo de Peñafort'', but because of her old age, she was not able to receive it in person.


Works

* ''Cuatros años en París (1940–1944)'', (1978)Cuatros años en París / Four years in Paris: 1940–1944 (Spanish Edition)


Bibliography

* Miguel Ángel Villena, ''Victoria Kent, una pasión republicana'',
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 ...
, Debate, 2007, 336 p. * María Dolores Ramos, ''Victoria Kent (1892–1987)'', Ediciones del Orto, 1999, 96 p. * Carmen de la Guardia, ''Victoria Kent y Louise Crane en Nueva York. Un exilio compartido'', Madrid, Silex, 2016, 327 p. * Maria Telo Nunez, ''Concepcion Arenal y Victoria Kent: La prisiones, vida y obra'', Instituto de la Mujer, 1995, 137 p. * Angela Kershaw & Angela Kimyongur, ''Women in Europe Between the Wars: Politics, Culture and Society'', Ashgate Pub Co, 2007, 249 p.


See also

*
First women lawyers around the world This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in each country. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are the first women in their country to achieve a certain distinction su ...


References


External links

* Louise Crane and Victoria Kent Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Victoria 1891 births 1987 deaths People from Málaga Radical Socialist Republican Party politicians Republican Left (Spain) politicians Members of the Congress of Deputies of the Second Spanish Republic Politicians from Andalusia 20th-century Spanish lawyers Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in Mexico Complutense University of Madrid alumni Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in the United States Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) LGBTQ history in Spain Exiled Spanish politicians 20th-century Spanish women lawyers Spanish suffragists 20th-century Spanish women politicians Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War