Maria Josep Colomer i Luque

Maria Josep Colomer i Luque (31 March 1913 – 24 May 2004), better known as Mari Pepa Colomer, 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 pilot's license.

She fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side, and went into exile after the war, never flying again.

Early life and education

Colomer grew up in a wealthy family in Barcelona. 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.

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 practise their profession. she had grown up admiring Amelia Earhart. although María Bernaldo de Quirós gained her pilots' license in 1928 in Madrid. Colomer was the third Spanish woman to earn a pilots' license, and the first Catalan woman to do so.

After obtaining her license, to get professional experience and prove that she was at the same level as the rest of the all-male pilots at the time, she also undertook a commercial pilots' course, was employed in various flight jobs including transporting goods and dropping flyers, and took part in several amateur pilot competitions, She quickly became a popular figure, as in Spain at the time the ability to fly was a public spectacle, performing in many demonstrations; when the Second Spanish Republic was declared, she flew a plane with a banner in the colours of the new flag over Barcelona; one of her first passengers was Lluís Companys, the President of Catalonia; and in 1932 she landed a Zeppelin in Barcelona, a massive social event. where she worked training new pilots for the Spanish Republican Air Force. She became an officer and took on various roles as an instructor, a supplies pilot, serving as an ambulance, dropping propaganda,

In July 2018, the "Herstóricas: Historia, Mujeres y Género" ("Her-story: History, Women and Gender") association and the Comic Authors Collective created a cultural education project to make women's history more visible, creating a pack of cards, one of which depicts Colomer.

Miguel de Lucas wrote in 2015 that Colomer "led [a life] of legend and enjoyed an uncommon longevity. Yet a decade after [her death], [she remains] unknown to most Spaniards".