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My Story

María Lejerraga was born into a conservative family on December 28, 1874, in Spain. As a girl brought up in patriarchy, she fully understood the limited options available to women. However, despite the odds, she developed a passion for writing quite early. Like many women writers of the past, María’s creative potential was suppressed—her works were published under her husband’s name. Her husband’s accomplishments stand out, however, still, María was raised in a family where women were viewed as housewives only. Juggling too many marital responsibilities took a toll on her creative self. Lejarraga was primarily a homemaker, but she eventually became a well-known feminist author. María understood that in order for her work to reach the public, it was simply sufficient to publish under her husband’s name. Because this was a particularly Spanish approach at that time, Gregorio did not mind. However, for Maria, this was something that she did not want to do since it meant that she had to erase her talent as a writer, not mention her work being recognized. To add salt to the injury, surname borrowing was not the end of Maria’s suffering. Gregorio’s commercial behaviors included lack of respect and infidelity towards Maria. Unable to abandon her children and completely disregarding their obedience, she was meshed in a vicious cycle of emotional and physical abuse. However, as a consolation, Maria took writing as an addiction, a way to focus her mind on something useful rather than on violence and oppression.

The work of Lejarajaj is remarkable; a talented writer, she writes stories about women, their feelings and problems in a society that seems to devoid women’s voices. She focuses on the emotional and social challenges of women captured in her tales and argues the need for equality and respect for women’s dreams and aspirations. Besides literature, Lejarajaj is also a campaigner for women equality and looks for ways of bolstering women’s education and career prospects. She is very much of the opinion that women ought to have a role in the society and endorses change that enables women to be more autonomous and valued. Such commitment to the ideals of the feminist movement made her one of the leaders of the first feminist wave in Spain, except she was not in the limelight most of the time. Espin arguably devoted all her life unto the resistance of women oppression and in all her efforts, she instigated transformation that can be seen in her works and activism. Many women who have risked everything to be able to speak out were inspired by her life and her legacy is still relevant to women’s equal rights advocates today.