Clotilde Catalán de Ocón y Gayolá

Clotilde Catalán de Ocón y Gayolá (1 March 1863 – 12 May 1946) was a Spanish entomologist and poet, noted for her study of lepidoptera in the Sierra de Albarracín. and was the author of several poems under the pseudonym La Hija del Cabriel.

Early life and education Clotilde Catalán de Ocón y Gayolá was born in Calatayud in the Province of Zaragoza on 1 March 1863 to Loreto de Gayolá (1839–1887) and Manuel Catalán de Ocón (1822–1899), members of an aristocratic Aragonese family. Her mother had been educated in Switzerland, and encouraged her two daughters, Clotilde and Blanca, to develop their interests in botany and entomology and instilled in them a love of nature.

Entomology Although Clotilde Catalán did not pursue formal studies, she trained with Bernardo Zapater y Marconell, Canon of Albarracín and one of the greatest botanical scholars in Spain, who put her in contact with other scientists working in field. She became a notable collector of insects and formed a collection of lepidoptera that she gradually classified. Part of this collection was published in the journal Miscelánea Turolense in 1894, under the epigraph Fauna entomológica turolense with the subtitle Catálogo de Lepidópteros que han sido cazados en el Valle de Valdecabriel por la Señorita Clotilde Catalán de Ocón. The piece was published under Bernardo Zapater's name, and was a list of 54 butterflies with their corresponding scientific names. On 1 February 1888, the Revista del Turia published her Contestación a la poesía 'El ruiseñor de mi jardín''', publicada por D. José Mª Catalán en un periódico de Alcañiz. In El Turolense, she published A mi valle, A Manolita y José María, Adiós al valle, No te olvido... She published A una mosca in El Eco de Teruel, Ante la tumba de mi madre (To a fly in El Eco de Teruel, Before my mother's grave) in Miscelánea turolense, (a magazine published in Madrid between 1891-1901, which showcased the culture of the province of Teruel including articles on botany). Other writings were published in the Cancionero de los Amantes de Teruel''.