Meetings at the Lyceum
The purpose of the Lyceum was “to defend the moral and material interests of women, by accepting, guiding, and developing all initiatives and activities of an exclusively economic, charitable, artistic, scientific, and literary nature that are for their benefit” (Bylaws).
Photograph of the tribute the Lyceum paid to Ernestina de Champourcin in 1936.
Its Literature Section organized lectures and readings and offered advice to female authors seeking to make a name for themselves. Its members were the first to champion the work of many women who, despite their importance, had gone unrecognized throughout history.
The Lyceum Club drew ridicule and suspicion. Its members were called “know-it-alls, ” “frivolous, ” or “dangerous, ” and the club itself was known as “the wives’ club.” Jacinto Benavente refused to give a “ lecture ” there with a line that became famous: “I can’t give a ‘ lecture ’ to just anyone.”
However, other authors also supported them, such as Lorca, who gave one of his first public readings of *Romancero gitano* there.
"On Friday or Saturday, the 'women's poetry tournament' will take place at the Lyceum. Participating will be Saint Teresa, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Gertrudis Avellaneda, Carolina Coronado—in short, all the pioneers—and then… us; that is to say, Concha Méndez Cuesta, Rosa Chacel, Josefina de la Torre, Isabel Buendía, Pilar Valderrama, you, and me."
(Correspondence, May 9, 1928)