Calle de María de Guzmán

At seventeen, María Isidra de Guzmán y de la Cerda (Madrid, 1767 – Córdoba, 1803) defended a thesis on Aristotle’s De anima in Alcalá de Henares and became the first woman to earn a doctoral degree at a Spanish university. It was June 1785. The daughter of counts, she had studied philosophy, mathematics, Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, and Charles III backed her so she could sit the examination despite the doors closed to women. She became known as “the Doctor of Alcalá.” The year before, she had entered the Royal Spanish Academy as its first woman member of language. Her case remained an exception and opened no path: the Spanish university would not admit women as a matter of course until the 20th century. The street links Bravo Murillo with Agustín de Betancourt.