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Margarita Salaverría Galárraga (1911 – 7 December 2000) was Spain's first woman diplomat.

Biography and professional career

Margarita Salaverría Galárraga was born in Madrid in 1911, the daughter of feminist Amalia Galárraga and writer José María Salaverría. She attended the Instituto-Escuela [es], then studied Law in Madrid. She was a study partner and friend of writer Emilio Garrigues Díaz-Cañabate.

In 1933, at age 22, she was among the approved appointees to the Second Republic's diplomatic corps, becoming the first woman to complete its exams. The same year, she went on to work at the Ministry of State.

Her name appeared on the list of candidates appointed third-class secretaries on 1 November 1933.

On 30 July 1936 a Diplomatic Cabinet was created, whose purpose was to advise the Junta de Defensa Nacional [es]. This cabinet comprised three first-class secretaries (José María Bermejo Gómez, Antonio de la Cierva y Lewita, and Vicente Taberna Latasa), six second-class secretaries (Gerardo Gasset y Neyra, Luis Roca de Togores y Pérez del Pulgar, Rafael Romero Ferrer, Antonio Villacieros Benito, Fernando Sebastián de Erice y O'Shea, and Manuel Orbea Biardeu) and one third-class secretary, a position that fell to Margarita Salaverría Galarraga. The speed of these appointments may be indicative of the confidence of the rebellious forces in the chosen persons, who could be considered faithful to the rebel cause.

Salaverría Galárraga married fellow diplomat (and classmate) Jaime Argüelles Armada, one of the founders of Banesto. The couple had six children: Inés, Isabel, Jacobo, José, Margarita, and Pedro.

During World War II, she was posted in London, where her husband was a trade advisor to the Duke of Alba's team, and she worked as an embassy secretary.

In 1961 she was promoted to third-class plenipotentiary minister. It was an exceptional case for a woman to have worked as a diplomat from the beginning of Francoist Spain. In 1970 she was promoted to second-class plenipotentiary minister.

In the 1970s, together with her family, she moved to the United States, where her husband was the ambassador of Spain in Washington. Argüelles Armada died on 6 December 1995.

In 1981 she was awarded the Banda de Dama of the Order of Isabella the Catholic by Royal Decree.

Margarita Salaverría Galárraga died in Madrid on 7 December 2000.

She is considered, together with Aline Griffith and Meye Allende de Maier, to be the muse of haute couture designer Balenciaga.

References

1. ^ "D.ª Margarita Salaverría Galarraga". ABC (in Spanish). 11 December 2000. p. 77. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
2. ^ Valcárcel, Darío (9 December 2000). "Margarita Salaverría". ABC (in Spanish). p. 58. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
3. Bercovitz, Vera (4 May 2017). "Fallece Paco Carvajal, el retratista de la alta sociedad" [Paco Carvajal, the Portraitist of High Soeciety, Passes Away]. Vanity Fair Spain (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2018.
4. "Necrologica: Doña Amalia Galarraga, viuda de don José María Salaverria". ABC (in Spanish). 29 August 1971. p. 51. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
5. Garrigues Díaz-Cañabate, Emilio (14 December 2000). "¿Deshojar la margarita?" [Defoliate the Daisy?]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2018.
6. "Nombramiento y destino de los nuevos secretarios de embajada" [Appointment and Posting of the New Embassy Secretaries]. ABC (in Spanish). 12 November 1933. p. 38. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
7. Niño, Alex (3 July 1995). "Señora diplomática" [Madam Diplomat]. El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
8. Valdivielso del Real, Rocío (2002). La carrera diplomática en España: evolución de un cuerpo de élite: 1939–1990 [The Diplomatic Career in Spain: Evolution of an Elite Body: 1939–1990] (Thesis). Complutense University of Madrid. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
9. "Gabinete Diplomatico" [Diplomatic Cabinet]. Boletín Oficial de la Junta Defensa Nacional de España (in Spanish) (21). Burgos. 14 September 1936. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
10. Casanova Gómez, Marina (1987). "Depuración de funcionarios diplomáticos durante la guerra civil" [Purging of Diplomatic Functionaries During the Civil War] (PDF). Revista de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia (in Spanish) (1): 361–378. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
11. "Ecos diversos de sociedad". ABC (in Spanish). 12 July 1962. p. 39. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
12. "Decreto 2206/1961, de 26 de octubre, por el que se asciende a Ministro Plenipotenciario de tercera clase a doña Margarita Salaverría y Galarraga, Consejero de Embajada" [Decree 2206/1961, of 26 October, whereby Margarita Salaverría y Galarraga, Counselor of the Embassy, is promoted to the Third Plenipotentiary Minister]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (276): 16385. 18 November 1961. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
13. Pardos, José Luis (2012). El modernizador: una aproximación a Floridablanca [The Modernizer: An Approach to Floridablanca] (in Spanish). Editum. p. 158. ISBN 9788476847749. Retrieved 27 December 2018 – via Google Books.
14. "Ascenso de cuarenta y seis ministros plenipotenciarios" [Promotion of Forty-Six Plenipotentiary Ministers]. ABC (in Spanish). 28 April 1970. p. 37. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
15. ^ Espinosa de los Monteros, Patricia (3 October 2006). "Balenciaga, fuente de inspiración" [Balenciaga, Source of Inspiration]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). San Sebastián. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
16. "Don Jaime Argüelles Armada". ABC (in Spanish). 11 December 1995. p. 91. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
17. "Real Decreto 388/1981, de 11 de marzo, por el que se concede la Banda de Dama de la Orden de Isabel la Católica a doña Margarita Salaverría Galarraga" [Royal Decree 388/1981, of 11 March, by which the Banda de Dama of the Order of Isabel la Católica is awarded to Mrs. Margarita Salaverría Galarraga]. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (59): 5318. 10 March 1981. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
18. Espinosa de los Monteros, Patricia (16 July 2011). "Las nietas de las damas de la alta sociedad homenajean a Balenciaga" [The Granddaughters of the Ladies of High Society Pay Homage to Balenciaga]. ABC (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 December 2018.

• 1911 births
• 2000 deaths
• 20th-century diplomats
• People from Madrid
• Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
• Spanish diplomats
• Spanish women diplomats