Teresa Argemí
Teresa Argemí Melián
Jurist and lawyer from Barcelona. The first to celebrate 50 years in the Barcelona Bar Association
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1907 - Barcelona, 1994
"I always wanted to be a lawyer because it was a very human career that touched people's souls", declared Teresa Argemí to the newspaper La Vanguardia, as a feminist and a lawyer. She was born in Las Palmas, she was the daughter of a Catalan serviceman and a mother from the Canary Islands. She moved to Barcelona in 1924. She studied law at the University of Barcelona and graduated in June 1935. She began to practice law in two renowned law firms in the Catalan capital city: Xavier Regás and Fernando Benet.
An anecdote of her professional life is her work with Niceto Alcalá Zamora for the recognition of the right of women to participate in the competitive examinations for the Judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Judicial Secretariat and to be able to occupy these positions. The Minister of Justice at that time rejected the request.
She participated in the first Catalan Legal Congress (1936) organized by the Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Catalonia, where she acted as secretary of the fourth section chaired by Joan Moles i Ormella. She was admitted to the Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Catalonia (1936), although the civil war curtailed this appointment, which would have made her the first woman to be admitted to this institution.
In 1937 she married Josep Alguer i Micó, Civil Law Professor at the University of Barcelona, who died prematurely five months after her marriage. In 1941 she opened her own law firm in Barcelona and made the practice of law compatible with academic teaching, as an Assistant Professor to the chair of Administrative Law at the University of Barcelona, under the supervision of Josep M. Pi i Sunyer. She was the first woman to be awarded the gold medal of the profession to celebrate her 50 years in a bar association and received the medal of Sant Raimon de Penyafort.
Maria Jesús Espuny Tomás
Professor Emeritus, History of Law and Institutions
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
References:
- La Vanguardia, divendres 23 de juny de 1969, 36: Entrevista a Teresa Argemí Melián, feminista y abogada (a càrrec de Rafael Wirth).
- Gay Montalvo, Eugeni (2019). Teresa Argemí Melian (Les Palmes, 1907-Barcelona, 1994). In: Eugeni Gay Montalvo (dir.). L’Advocacia de Barcelona. 200 anys de la seva historia. El Col·legi, els seus advocats i juristes (587-590). Pamplona: Aranzadi.
Suggested citation:
Espuny Tomás, María Jesús (2022). Teresa Argemí Melián. Pioneering Female Jurists: Remembrance and Memory [Electronic resource], Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, November 2022. In: https://ddd.uab.cat/record/268737
This web Pioneering Female Jurists: Remembrance and Memory was created as part of the teaching innovation and quality improvement project of the UAB 2021 (GI515402). Main researcher: María Jesús García Morales
