Maria Domènech i Escoté
Maria Domènech Escoté (1877-1952) was born in the town of Alcover and lived in Tarragona during her youth.
She was a versatile writer who wrote narratives, poems, essays, theater and also devoted herself to painting. As an activist, in line with the conservative feminism of the late 19th century and early 20th century, she founded the Workers' Union Federation (1912).
Her articles in Feminal magazine gained a lot of attention, and she also published in newspapers and weeklies such as La pátria, Lo camp de Tarragona, El poble català or La Veu de Catalunya.
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Regarding the vision that Domènech had of Tarragona, Montserrat Palau, in a study states that "she praised some events and places, but she also criticized apathy and lack of initiatives."
At the age of thirty-three she settled in Barcelona with her husband and children and began to collaborate with different newspapers... Finally, in 1914 she published the novel Neus in the Biblioteca Popular.
It was in those years that she won literary distinctions in several competitions and even an runner-up prize to the Flower in the Floral Games with the brilliant poetry Mireia where ingenuity, sentiment and freshness stand out.
Fotografia recollida per Mercè Ibarz a Pioneres modernes (Arola Editors)
CUSTOMS OF TARRAGONA
CUSTOMS OF TARRAGONA
Even though it was Maundy Thursday, it was three in the afternoon when Tecleta left the worker's office. In those days, dressmakers were overwhelmed with work; for all the women (...) and as their principal was so well-known , this meant that they were never able to finish their work. As usual, whenever Tecleta left the dressmaker’s house, Pepitu was waiting for her every day and they would chat...
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That day, as he didn't have to go to work, he didn't mind waiting, even if it was late, he had eaten everything in a hurry and without even changing his clothes, leaving that for later, and had gone to the guard post, as he called it.
If her parents had caught them, God forbid. She, their daughter... partying with that starving lazy man, who had been a cabinetmaker for so many years and still didn't know how to make a bad drawer... Never mind, they had other claims for their daughter.
Square of Tarragona customs, 1906