Rector Carmen Vargas highlighted the work of figures such as María Sánchez and Isabel the Catholic at the 521st anniversary event held in the chapel of Santa María de Jesús.
The University of Seville (US) has sought to highlight the role of women who, from the shadows, contributed to its foundation and development. During the commemorative event for the 521st anniversary, held in the chapel of Santa María de Jesús, Rector Carmen Vargas expressed her gratitude towards those who made the institution possible.
“We feel gratitude, deep respect, and utmost humility towards the women who decisively contributed to making this University possible,” Vargas stated. Among them, she mentioned María Sánchez, a Franciscan beatified and close collaborator of the founder Maese Rodrigo, who, after his death, became involved in completing the educational project. “No important decision could be made without her consent,” the rector recalled.
She also emphasised the decisive contribution of Isabel the Catholic, who five years before the foundation wrote to Pope Julius II and Cardinal Bernardino de Sandoval to request support for the future College. According to the US, the queen was key to the project's advancement.
Pioneers in classrooms and laboratories
Vargas not only looked to the past but also highlighted women who, centuries later, paved the way at the University. The first enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine, Antonia Monreal Andrés (1889), the first graduate in Chemistry, Isabel Ovín Campos, and the first professor at the US, María del Rosario Montoya Santamaría, appointed in 1930 and sidelined in 1937, were among those honoured.
The rector noted that their stories serve as a reminder that “many women did not receive the recognition they deserved” and that “each incomplete name is also an incomplete part of women's history.” Vargas stated that she holds her position “because of them and many others who advanced before.”
Currently, the US continues to achieve milestones. The dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Inmaculada Murcia Serrano, has become the first woman to preside over the Conference of Deans and Directors of Centres at the US. “Every first woman opens a door, but true progress will come when being the first is no longer news,” the rector concluded, calling for the construction of a University “where no one is left out.”
An event in the founding chapel
The chapel of Santa María de Jesús, the first seat of the University and the place where the remains of the founder Maese Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella rest, hosted the event. The director of the Department of Art History, Magdalena Illán, spoke about the foundation and the artistic value of the space, which Fernández de Santaella envisioned for “the democratization of knowledge.”
Illán also remembered Professor Enrique Valdivieso, who passed away last year, who studied the works of the chapel. The US assured that it continues to “guard more than ever” that mission of making knowledge accessible.
For the people of Seville, this tribute serves as a reminder that the University is not only an academic institution but also a collective legacy. The rector encouraged the university community to continue working so that progress is real and visible. The event concluded with a call for equality and recognition of all the women who, throughout history, have contributed to knowledge.
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