First Lady of the Spanish Press: María Luz Morales Godoy

The first time her byline first appeared in the La Vanguardia in 1921, no one could have imagined that young María Luz Morales Godoy would become not only the first woman in Spain to run a major newspaper—La Vanguardia itself—but also an important voice in the Spanish press for the next six decades. No one, that is, with the possible exception of María Luz Morales herself. Though she never could have predicted many of the factors that would ultimately shape her destiny, writing and journalism were her lifelong passions, in spite of living in a society where professional female writers were incredibly rare.

Early Years

Born in Galicia in 1889, Morales' family moved to the city of Barcelona when she was a child, which is where she would later carve out her professional life. She studied at the Bonnemaison Institute of Culture and University of Barcelona, where she decided she wanted to be a journalist. In 1920, she started writing for a magazine that focused on domestic issues, called El Hogar y La Moda (Home and Fashion), thanks to winning a writing contest organized by the magazine. She would become the director of that publication just a short time later. Her work there brought her to the attention of La Vanguardia, who hired her when she was only 22 years old.

Morales wrote on women’s issues and fashion, and later began covering a relatively young industry: film. These reviews were initially published under the male pseudonym Felipe Centero, though historians don’t know if this choice was a personal one or was imposed by the sexism of the era. “Felipe” became known not only for her nuanced and intelligent film criticism but also for her promotion of the history of film, education and the importance of cinematic culture to society as a whole.

Paramount Pictures was impressed with her work both as a writer and translator and hired her to translate their films into Spanish and to write articles for trade journals. Morales would later collaborate on the production of at least one film, Sierre de Teruel, by French director André Malraux in 1939. The work was financed by the government of the Spanish Republic in the midst of the Civil War and was meant to be a tool used for international propaganda.

Making History

When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Morales was working as an editor at Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia. The paper was commandeered by Republican fighters, and the former director Agustí Calvet went into hiding. Morales was appointed director of the paper due to her competence and her popularity with the newspaper staff. She reportedly accepted the job on two conditions: that she would not be compelled to make any sort of political statement, and that the post would be only temporary until a permanent director could be found. 

She ran the newspaper La Vanguardia from August 1936 to February 1937, thereby making history as the first woman to head a Spanish newspaper. Though the position was only provisional, she effectively led her mostly male counterparts thanks to her clear journalistic vision and superb management skills. Morales was replaced by Paulí Massip in 1937 but continued working as an editor for the newspaper.

When Franco’s forces won the war in 1939, all the newspaper staff were dismissed, and many were arrested. Morales was detained by the Fascist government for 40 days, both for her participation in the production of Sierre de Teruel as well as for trying to help other detained journalists on both sides of the conflict. Her press credentials were officially revoked, but the multilingual journalist continued to write, translate and adapt texts under new pseudonyms—Ariel, and Jorge Marineda—for a number of publications, including numerous works of children’s literature for the Araluce publishing house. 

In 1948, she was permitted to re-register in the Official Registry of Journalists in Barcelona, and was hired by El Diario de Barcelona, where she would dedicate herself mostly to theater and literary reviews. Over the course of her life, Morales was not only the author of articles but also books on cinema, as well as novels, poetry, plays and other non-fiction works such as biographies and an encyclopedia of cinema. She was also the editor and adapter of numerous pieces of writing, ranging from now classic works of children’s literature such as Peter Pan to Shakespeare.

Her Legacy

Though María Luz Morales rejected the label of feminist, she was far ahead of her time when it came to expressing her perspective on women’s role in society. Many of her articles in La Vanguardia and other publications advocated for women to widen their worldview to encompass activities outside the home, including education, culture and professional activities. She also encouraged mothers to raise their children with a focus on creativity and self-expression rather than harsh discipline.

She was presented with a number of awards, including The Knight’s Medal and Diploma of the Academic Palms (France, 1956), the National Theater Prize (Spain, 1963), the Eugenio d’Ors Journalism Prize (Spain, 1970), the Barcelona Journalism Prize (Spain, 1972) and the Merit Medal in Theater in (Spain, 1976). 

Two different awards were even created in her name: the María Luz Morales Journalism Award, a joint award created by La Vanguardia, La Caixa Foundation, and the Cultural Observatory of Gender, and The María Luz Morales Award for Audiovisual Research, created by the Royal Galician Audiovisual Academy.

One of the quotes attributed to Morales was “I will never stop writing, because it is as necessary to me as breathing.” She continued to write until her death at the age of 91, on September 22, 1980, having submitted her final article to El Diario de Barcelona just a few days earlier.