Clara Campoamor Rodríguez was born in Madrid, Spain, to a working-class family. Her father died when she was ten years old, and she had to leave school to help her mother and younger siblings. She did the house works, and at 13, worked as a seamstress while educating herself in her free time. At 21, Campoamor was hired as a telegraph assistant at the Post Office in San Sebastián and soon worked her way up in the office and then as a typing teacher in Madrid. At the time, Campoamor became involved in politics. She took a second job at a liberal newspaper, joined numerous women’s organizations, and published political commentaries at a liberal newspaper. In 1920, Campoamor realized that she had to further her primary education to get higher positions. So, at the age of 32, she began to take evening classes at a secondary school. After earning her university diploma, she enrolled in law school, and at the age of 36, Campoamor became the second woman to join the Madrid Bar Association. She founded a law firm specializing in women’s and children’s issues, defending women’s rights in divorce and paternity cases, and fighting for child labor laws. She also promoted women’s rights outside of work, co-founded the International Federation of Women Lawyers and the Spanish Women’s League for Peace. In 1931, after the Second Spanish Republic was formed, 43 years old Campoamor was among the 21 deputies elected to draft the constitution. Representing the Radical Party, Campoamor fought against sexual discrimination, for women’s right to divorce, for the legal equality of children born within and outside marriage, and for universal suffrage – the “women’s vote.” Promoting the cause, she became the first woman to address the Parliament’s plenary session in front of 470 men and one woman, arguing that preventing women from exercising their right to vote violates the natural law. Campoamor’s advocacy was opposed by both sides of the Parliament, including members of her party. She left the party and continued to represent women’s rights as an independent member of the assembly. With endless efforts and the support of women’s activists throughout the country, Campoamor managed to include in the new constitution the article that stated that “Citizens of either sex, over 23 years of age, will have the same rights elections as determined by law.” After the constitution got declared, Campoamor was outcasted by her party and lost her parliament seat in the elections of 1933. In 1936, on the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, Campoamor had to flee the country. First, she moved to Argentina, where she worked as a translator, and then, after being denied to return to Spain by the Franco regime, she settled in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she returned to work as a lawyer. She died in exile at the age of 84. Read more...