Jimena Fernández de la Vega

Jimena Fernández de la Vega y Lombán (June 3 1895 – May 20 1984) was a Spanish doctor, geneticist, professor, and one of the first women to obtain a doctorate in medicine from a university in Galicia. She specialized in medical genetics and worked closely with the prominent Spanish scientists such as Roberto Nóvoa Santos, Gustavo Pittaluga, and Gregorio Marañón. In 1933, she was named the director of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Madrid, which served as a gateway for the development of genetics in Spanish medicine. Alongside her twin sister Elisa, she is remembered as a trailblazer for women in Spanish higher education and medicine. After the death of her sister, Fernández de la Vega spent her later years as a "medical hydrologist," engaged in balneotherapy, where she managed several spas until her retirement in the 1960s. Her work in genetics, and later at the spas as the first woman medical director of Spain, has been described pioneering. She died in 1984 of a cerebrovascular disease in Santiago de Compostela and is buried in the cemetary of Boisaca.

In recognition of her contributions and impact, she was recognized as the "Scientist of the Year 2021" by the Royal Galician Academy of Sciences "to make known her figure as an example of a woman scientist, in times when it was not easy to be admitted and recognized". Her niece, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, is a magistrate and known for being the first first female deputy prime minister of Spain.

Jimena Fernández de la Vega was born in Vegadeo, Asturias, Spain, on June 3, 1895,^[1] together with her twin sister Elisa Fernández de la Vega, to Wenceslao Fernández de la Vega Pasarín and Dolores Lombán.^[2] Her father was a physician, who practiced in Vegadeo, and was the medical director of the Guitiriz Spa since 1904. Both sisters did their bachelor's degree at Instituto de Lugo between 1909 and 1913, taking all the subjects in non-official and non-collegiate education.^[3] Fernández de la Vega obtained an outstanding grade in both literature and science in her final degree exam in 1913.^[1][3]

In the last year of their bachelor's degree, the two sisters studied German and began the "Theoretical and Experimental Human Physiology" course at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Santiango.^[1] After passing the preparatory course, they continued studying medicine under guidance of professor Nóvoa Santos, and published research articles on pathophysiological studies of the cerebellum in the journal Galicia Médica,^[4] titled "On the Presence of Fatty Granulations in the Blood" and "A Brief Physiopathological Study of the Cerebellum."^[5]

Despite facing hostilities from the teachers and classmates,^[6][7] the sisters continued their education and, in 1919, became among the first women to earn a degree in Medicine from a Galician university.^[8] In September 1919, both sisters took the competitive exams for the Extraordinary Prize and Fernández de la Vega obtained one of the two prizes.^[3]

Following her graduation, Fernández de la Vega pursued further specialization. In 1922, she completed her doctoral thesis on the study of the infantile autonomic nervous system through hematological analysis, supervised by parasitologist and hematologist Gustavo Pittaluga. In recognition of her outstanding achievements, she was awarded the Cross of Alfonso XII in 1922. A copy of her thesis is preserved in the National Library of Madrid.^[8]

Between 1923–1927, she undertook postgraduate studies in Germany, Austria, and Italy. She was one of the fifty scientists awarded a research grant to study outside Spain by Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE), a research institution created in 1907 to promote scientific research and education in Spain.^[8] For six months, she was in Berlin studying "biometry" with physicians Friedrich Kraus and Theodor Brugsh. Following the advice of Edwin Baur, she relocated to Hamburg to study genetics under Hermann Poll, a prominent German geneticist and eugenicist. She then spent a year with Poll learning standard Mendelian genetics techniques using Drosophila and carried out a study about pathology and inheritance of identical twins. Her final stop was Vienna, where she worked for six months with Julius Bauer studying the concepts of inheritance and predisposition or what was referred to as constitutional types.

As a geneticist, she was a disciple of Novoa Santos, Gregorio Marañón and Gustavo Pittaluga.^[5][1]

Fernández de la Vega's primary scientific interest lay in medical genetics with focus on mendelian inheritance and its clinical applications. She returned to Spain in 1927 and began experimental research about inheritance of blood groups and blood pathologies at the Central Laboratory of Clinical Research of the Faculty of Medicine of Madrid, directed by the haematologist Gustavo Pittaluga.^[4] She began the work of translating the works of Baur and other German physiologists, with the aim of publishing the knowledge acquired in Germany and Austria within Spanish academic community.^[1] From 1928 to 1929, she published articles in the Archives of the Medical Service of Pathology (Hospital General de Madrid), in the Archives of Cardiology and Hematology (periodical publication of the Laboratorio Central de Investigación Clínicas and public consultation of diseases of the blood of the Faculty of Medicine of Madrid) and in the Archives of Neurobiologia. In 1930 she translated Julius Bauer's book Konstitutions und Vererbungdslehre (Constitution and Heredity), from its second edition of 1923.^[9]

In 1930, European researchers Hermann Poll and Julius Baur visited Madrid as guests for several conferences. Poll suggested to physiologist Augusto Pi Suñer, then a member of the Council of Culture of the Ministry of Public Instruction, to create a specialized laboratory in Spain for the study of human genetics. Subsequently, Gregorio Marañón created the Sección de Genética y Constitución (Genetics and Constitution Section) at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Madrid in 1933, as part of the pathology chair of the School of Medicine led by Roberto Nóvoa Santos. Fernández de la Vega was named the director of the laboratory. Her research during this period focused on heredity and its relation to medical conditions, and she became a collaborator of Gregorio Marañón, a leading figure in Spanish endocrinology and medicine, as well as one of the pioneers of Spanish eugenics. In the same year, she also participated in the first Spanish eugenics conference, held in Madrid from 21 April to 10 May 1933, giving a course entitled Biological inheritance in man, dealing with Mendelian transmission of psychological characters.^[9]

After being named the director of the Genetics section, Fernández de la Vega received another research grant from the JAE in 1933 to develop her genetics research in Italy and Germany. The scholarship was granted for one year, with one semester spent in Italy and three months in Germany. She stayed in Genoa from October 1933 until April 1, 1934, at the Istituto di Clinica Medica. In the opinion of her director, Nicola Pende, Jimena proved to have "perfect preparation for scientific research and great clinical knowledge."

Fernández de la Vega then moved to Berlin to continue her scholarship at the Keiser Wilhelm Institut, where she conducted research on the inheritance of the blood forms and differences in form of human red blood cells, using the twin method. Her scholarship, due to end in June 1934, was extended until October by the institute director Eugen Fischer to continue her work.^[1]

The academic landscape in Spain changed significantly during late 1930s.^[3] After the death of Nóvoa Santos in 1933, the section of Genetics and Constitution was reduced from experimental work laboratory to a theoretical seminar, due to lack of support for experimental genetics research.^[9]

Her sister, Elisa also died in 1933, at the age of 37, of an atypical pneumonia. After her husband went to Argentina when the war broke out, Fernández de la Vega took on the responsibility of educating her sister's children.^[2] In 1935, Gregorio Marañón invited her to teach a genetics course, leading to the publication of La herencia fisiopatológica en la especie humana (Pathological Inheritance in the Human Species),^[10] the first Spanish text about human genetics written by a physician in 1935,^[9] which included a prologue by Marañón.^[1]

After the start of Spanish Civil War in 1936, Fernández de la Vega moved to Santiago and worked at the San Caetano Hospital as a field doctor, overseeing the care of wounded individuals.^[2] When the war ended, she returned to Madrid to continue teaching and work in the old hospital of San Carlos, in Atocha.^[5] However, with the establishment of Francoist Spain, her role in the Genetics and Constitution Section diminished,^[11] where she continued serving as the director until her retirement in 1966.^[4]

Her later career was oriented towards "medical hydrology."^[12] In 1945, she took the competitive exams to become a "medical hydrologist," a balneologist.^[4] She moved to Santiago de Compostela where she focused on the study of water-based therapy.^[13] She obtained the position of a medical director at the Guitiriz spa, of which her father had already been director, and worked until 1957. At the International Congress of Gastroenterology held in Madrid, she presented "Eficacia de las aguas de Guitiriz (Lugo, España) en el tratamiento de las colecistopatías," detailing efficacy of waters of Guitiriz in medical treatments.^[14] She published several other works in medical hydrology, before her final publication on genetics, Theory of Heredity and Molecular Inheritance in 1963.^[15] Over next few decades, she managed the medical services for several spas such as Montemayor (Cáceres) and Lanjarón (Granada), applying her knowledge of balneotherapy and medicine, until her retirement.^[16]

Jimena Fernández de la Vega is remembered as a trailblazer for women in Spanish science and medicine.^[17][18] Along with her sister Elisa, she overcame significant societal barriers to pursue higher education and a professional career in the early 20th century. In 2020, the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra, named a cultivar of Camellia japonica 'Jimena Fernández de la Vega' in her honor.^[19] In 2021, Jimena and Elisa Fernández de la Vega streets were named next to the Higher Technical School of Engineering in Spain.^[20]

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Spain's first female deputy prime minister, is the niece of Fernández de la Vega. In a video tribute to the de la Vega sisters, she spoke of their courage and influence it had on her own path.^[17][21]

• Grand Cross of Alfonso XII (1922)^[6]
• Scientist of the Year (2021) – Royal Galician Academy of Sciences^[12]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1916). "Somero estudio fisio-patológico del cerebelo" [A Brief Physiopathological Study of the Cerebellum]. Galicia Médica (in Spanish). 12: 51–56.^[17]
• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1918). "Sobre la presencia de granulaciones grasientas en la sangre" [On the Presence of Fatty Granulations in the Blood]. Galicia Médica (in Spanish). 12: 45–50.^[17]
• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1922). Estudio de la vagotonía infantil por medio del examen hematológico [Study of Infant Autonomic Nervous System via Hematological Examination] (Doctoral thesis) (in Spanish). Universidad Central de Madrid.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1928). "Experimentos de genética en Drosophila, efectuados en el Instituto Anatómico de Hamburgo" [Experiments in Drosophila Genetics Conducted at the Anatomical Institute of Hamburg]. Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (in Spanish): 237–242.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1928–1929). "Consideraciones sobre las hemodistrofias: a propósito de un caso" [Considerations on Hemodystrophies: Concerning a Case]. Anales del Servicio de Patología Médica del Hospital General de Madrid (in Spanish). 10: 224–231.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1929). "Consideraciones etiológicas y patogénicas sobre un caso de hemofilia" [Etiological and Pathogenic Considerations on a Case of Hemophilia]. Archivos de Cardiología y Hematología (in Spanish). 10: 185–190.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1930a). "Contribución a la solución del problema de la herencia de los grupos sanguíneos" [Contribution to Resolving the Problem of Blood Group Inheritance]. Archivos de Cardiología y Hematología (in Spanish). 9: 295–313.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1930b). "Grupos sanguíneos" [Blood Groups]. Archivos de Cardiología y Hematología (in Spanish). 11: 300–302.^[17]

• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1933). "Herencia de los caracteres psicológicos" [Inheritance of Psychological Traits]. Archivos de Neurobiología (in Spanish). 13: 405–417.^[17]
• Fernández de la Vega Lombán, Jimena F. de la (1946). Hidrología y materia biológica: lecciones adaptadas al programa de oposiciones a médicos hidrólogos [Medical Hydrology and Biological Matter: Lectures Adapted to the Examination Syllabus for Hydrologist Physicians]. Lecciones para médicos hidrólogos (in Spanish). Madrid: Imprenta Juan Bravo.^[17]
• Fernández de la Vega, J. (1963). Teoría de la herencia y herencia molecular [Theory of Inheritance and Molecular Heredity] (in Spanish). Madrid: Paz Montalvo. p. 152.^[22]