Margarita Salaverría Galárraga was Spain's first woman diplomat.
Biography and professional career
Margarita Salaverría Galárraga attended the, then studied Law in Madrid. She was a study partner and friend of writerEmilio Garrigues Díaz-Cañabate. In 1933, at age 22, she was among the approved appointees to the Second Republic's diplomatic corps, becomingthe 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. This cabinet comprised three first-class secretaries, six second-class secretaries 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 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.
