Maria Josep Colomer i Luque
Maria Josep Colomer i Luque (31 March 1913—24 May 2004),[1] better known as Mari Pepa Colomer,[2][3] was one of the pioneers of Spanish aviation. She was the first female flight instructor in Spain and the first Catalan woman (third Spanish woman) to earn a pilots' license.
She fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, exiling herself from the country after this and never flying again.
She fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, exiling herself from the country after this and never flying again.
Colomer grew up in a wealthy family in Barcelona.[4] Her father was an artist from Sabadell,[5] friends with Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and contemporaries, while her mother was strict; Colomer was often taken to visit bars and meet artists by her father, who told her mother that they were out walking.[6]
She was enrolled at the Institute for Culture and Popular Library of Women, an institution that was founded in 1909 by Francesca Bonnemaison with the intention of giving instruction to working women so that they could learn a trade and then practice their profession.[3] Her parents wanted her to attend the cultural school, but her father was supportive when she asked to learn to fly;[7] she had grown up admiring Amelia Earhart.[5] Anecdotally, Colomer is reported to have first "flown" aged 7, when she jumped out of a second floor window[5] from the back of her house on Calle Principe de Asturias[4] while holding an umbrella "like Mary Poppins".[5] She broke both legs in the incident.[3][4]
Colomer and her father persuaded Josep Canudas, the rector of Barcelona Aviation School, to allow her to attend. In May 1930, she started studying there, becoming their first female student.[7] Colomer would cycle to the Catalunya (El Prat) Aerodrome to test the planes being fixed up by mechanics.[3] Such testing was part of a deal that helped her afford to continue flying lessons, and also happened so frequently that she quickly built up her flying hours.[3] The flight lessons were otherwise funded by her father[7] and some inheritance from the death of her maternal grandmother in October 1930.[4] Her father told her mother that she was out at finishing school while she was learning to fly;[6] her mother only learnt she had taken flying lessons when she was featured on the cover of La Vanguardia
She was enrolled at the Institute for Culture and Popular Library of Women, an institution that was founded in 1909 by Francesca Bonnemaison with the intention of giving instruction to working women so that they could learn a trade and then practice their profession.[3] Her parents wanted her to attend the cultural school, but her father was supportive when she asked to learn to fly;[7] she had grown up admiring Amelia Earhart.[5] Anecdotally, Colomer is reported to have first "flown" aged 7, when she jumped out of a second floor window[5] from the back of her house on Calle Principe de Asturias[4] while holding an umbrella "like Mary Poppins".[5] She broke both legs in the incident.[3][4]
Colomer and her father persuaded Josep Canudas, the rector of Barcelona Aviation School, to allow her to attend. In May 1930, she started studying there, becoming their first female student.[7] Colomer would cycle to the Catalunya (El Prat) Aerodrome to test the planes being fixed up by mechanics.[3] Such testing was part of a deal that helped her afford to continue flying lessons, and also happened so frequently that she quickly built up her flying hours.[3] The flight lessons were otherwise funded by her father[7] and some inheritance from the death of her maternal grandmother in October 1930.[4] Her father told her mother that she was out at finishing school while she was learning to fly;[6] her mother only learnt she had taken flying lessons when she was featured on the cover of La Vanguardia
After their exile, Colomer and Carreras first lived in Toulouse, Occitanie (Occitan-speaking France).[6] Colomer initially considered flying to Montevideo, Uruguay, where her father was exiled, but chose to stay with Carreras.[5]
Carreras had once been an interpreter for Lord Beaverbrook, who invited them to England. The pair married and lived in Surrey.[b] Carreras served again as a pilot, for the Royal Air Force, winning a medal for gallantry, and so was often away from home: when Colomer went into labour with their twins (a son and daughter) during an air raid she had to cycle herself to a hospital to give birth. Colomer briefly lived in Scotland, in a house provided by Beaverbrook, when she and the children were evacuated.[6] In Scotland, she worked helping prisoners and those wounded in the war.[10]
After World War II, she returned to Surrey, where she and Carreras worked with horses.[6] Carreras was knighted for his services during the war.[3]
She lived in England for the rest of her life,[7] though visited Spain several times. In late life, she said: "I will never move back to Spain, even though Franco is gone. I do not care. Almost all my friends have died and those who haven't live somewhere else in the world."[5] She never piloted a plane again.[7] When asked why, her answer was always that in England there was no job for her as a pilot.
Carreras had once been an interpreter for Lord Beaverbrook, who invited them to England. The pair married and lived in Surrey.[b] Carreras served again as a pilot, for the Royal Air Force, winning a medal for gallantry, and so was often away from home: when Colomer went into labour with their twins (a son and daughter) during an air raid she had to cycle herself to a hospital to give birth. Colomer briefly lived in Scotland, in a house provided by Beaverbrook, when she and the children were evacuated.[6] In Scotland, she worked helping prisoners and those wounded in the war.[10]
After World War II, she returned to Surrey, where she and Carreras worked with horses.[6] Carreras was knighted for his services during the war.[3]
She lived in England for the rest of her life,[7] though visited Spain several times. In late life, she said: "I will never move back to Spain, even though Franco is gone. I do not care. Almost all my friends have died and those who haven't live somewhere else in the world."[5] She never piloted a plane again.[7] When asked why, her answer was always that in England there was no job for her as a pilot.
Death
Colomer died in Surrey, in England, on 24 May 2004.[6] Her ashes were taken to the cemetery of Reus, in Catalonia
Colomer died in Surrey, in England, on 24 May 2004.[6] Her ashes were taken to the cemetery of Reus, in Catalonia
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