Jenara Vicenta Arnal Yarza

Jenara Vicenta Arnal Yarza (September 19, 1902 – May 27, 1960), was the first woman to hold a Ph.D. in chemistry (Chemical Sciences) in Spain. She was noted for her work in electrochemistry and her research into the formation of fluorine from potassium biflouride. In later years, she was recognized for her contribution to the pedagogy of teaching science on the elementary and secondary levels, with a focus on the practical uses of chemistry in daily life. Her sister Pilar was a pianist who studied in Paris and gave concerts in the Teatro Real de Madrid. Her brother Pablo died young, but had a short career as a professor of Physics and Chemistry at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). Her doctoral thesis was titled Estudio potenciométrico del ácido hipocloroso y de sus sales ("Potentiometric study of hypochlorous acid and its salts ”). Thus, Arnal Yarza became the first woman to obtain a doctorate in Chemical Sciences in Spain, later followed by the researchers y . During her tenure at the INFQ, she published 11 articles about electrochemical research, and in particular, electrolytic analysis.

In 1929, Dr. Arnal Yarza became a member of the Spanish Society for Physics and Chemistry for her distinguished research career in Spain and abroad.

Jenara Vicenta Arnal Yarza died suddenly on May 27, 1960, of a cerebral hemorrhage due to thrombosis. Thus she began her career in secondary education.

Her first secondary teaching post was at the Instituto Nacional Femenino Infanta Cristina, a girls' school in Barcelona, from 1930 until its closure in 1931, where she served as acting professor. In 1933 she was transferred to the Institute of Secondary Education in Calatayud. Later she was a professor of Physics and Chemistry in the Institute of Bilbao, from which she finally transferred to Madrid where she was assigned to the Instituto Velázquez from 1935 to 1936.

Lecciones de cosas ("Lessons about things") (1958) El mundo del saber (ciencias y letras) ("The world of knowledge (Arts and Sciences)) (1968 and 1970), later re-edited in 1982.

She also translated specialized books about the history of science such as Historia de la Química ("The History of chemistry"), by

Legacy One of her former students from her time in Japan, the Spanish ambassador created the Vicenta Arnal Prize in her honor for graduating students of the Instituto Beatriz Galindo, and in recent years his son has continued to award the prize.

In March 2019, the city of Zaragoza proposed changing the name of a street from Calle Rudesindo Nasarre Ariño to Calle Jenara Vicenta Arnal Yarza in her honor, in an effort to recognize the contributions of four notable women from that city and to comply with the Historical Memory Law. The plan was cancelled in September of that year. One of the low-current potentiostats at the Boettcher group is named after her contributions towards the field of electrochemistry.