Enriqueta Otero Blanco


Pseudonym: María de los Dolores, Pasionaria Lucense
Birth Date: 10th February 1910
Birth Place: Castroverde (Lugo)
 Curriculum

She came from a rich peasant family, her father descended from a noble family. His uncle, who was a priest and canon, was his first teacher, then she moved to Lugo and studied Secondary Education at ‘La Milagrosa School’. Shortly after, he studied Teaching and began to teach in San Cosme de Barreiros, then she was appointed to other villages and moved to Madrid, where she improved her studies, specialising in deafmute people. When the Civil War burst out she practised as a medical assistant at Carabanchel Hospital and entered the board of directors of the hospital. She directed several hospitals and cultural centres and when the Civil War was over she was taken to Ventas prison. She ran away and fled to Lugo and Becerreá, where she started her guerrilla activity. After spending seven longs years running away from justice, she was arrested in Lugo and was in prison from 1946 to 1965. She was sentenced to death in the Military Court of the 8th Military Region, but the sentence was commuted to thirty years imprisonment. In 1965, she was released and returned to her native village. In 1974, she took up again his job as a teacher and was destined to Fontarón school in 1975.

 Work & Activities

The County Council published her book Tesis Universidad Popular, O Carriño, in which she collected the results of he conference ‘Encuentros de Alternativas a la Escuela en el Medio Rural’, which had been celebrated in Pontevedra on 13th, 14th and 15th March 1985.

 Other Interesting Aspects

She promoted cultural projects and associations, the restoration of Cellán and Freiria Schools and created the Neighbour Association of Castroverde. There is a street with her name in Lugo. The City Council of Lugo edited 'As vidas de Enriqueta Otero Blanco' by Ángel Rodríguez Gallardo (2005).