Edelmira Calvetó

Edelmira Calvetó
Born	Edelmira Calvetó Alsamora (1884-07-01)1 July 1884 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Died	29 July 1957(1957-07-29) (aged 73) Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Citizenship	Spanish
Occupations	Housewife Football fan
Known for	The first female member of FC Barcelona

Edelmira Calvetó Alsamora (1 July 1884 – 29 July 1957) was a Spanish football fan considered the first female member of FC Barcelona.

Biography

When in February 1910 she married Pere Ollé Parent, a day laborer born in Collbató who was a fan of FC Barcelona, Calvetó began to accompany him along with a friend of his to attend Barça matches at the Camp de la Indústria, and since her husband was already a Barcelona partner, she decided that also wanted to be a partner of the club, which at the time was an organization made up exclusively of men, because she liked football and vibrated with the team as much as anyone else. In 1902, the club's first Statutes officially ruled that only "Spanish or foreign men" could be Blaugrana members, a regulation that the Statutes of 1911 ratified: "People over 14 years of age will be full members"; which meant that the door had been apparently open to women, but it was a mistake because shortly afterwards the Barça club went to the civil governor to correct "some copy errors" in the statutes and specifically point out that "where it said people it should say men".

Even though the statutes of 1911 only admitted male members, she insisted and in 1912, Calvetó asked a friend of his, the Barcelona player Francisco Armet, to help her join FC Barcelona, but he apologized and said that the rule prevented women from being Barcelona members. Faced with this refusal, Calvetó, a combative woman, did not give up and continued to insist again and again. Finally her efforts were rewarded when on 1 January 1913, under the presidency of Joan Gamper, Calvetó was admitted at the age of 28 as a member of Barcelona, with the number 86. In doing so, she became the first female member of FC Barcelona, and by 1921, when new statutes were drawn up, members were already spoken of generically, without distinguishing between sex.

Despite the difficulties, Barça opened a path and did so in a difficult context, when women did not even have the right to vote in Spain and when women were considered in the world of football as a merely decorative element, since the presence among the public of "graceful and gentle damsels" (according to the terminology of those years) was simply considered an incentive to attract men to matches. The second member in the history of Barça, María Oriol, was admitted on 16 September 1913. Barça thus became the first club in Spain to open its doors to women, seven years ahead of RCD Espanyol taking the same step in 1920 and of Real Madrid and Sporting de Gijón in 1924.

In 1956, in an interview with Armando Matías Guiu, the then 70-year-old Calvetó recalled those times and clearly explained the reasons that led her to request the partnership, stating that "sometimes I was the only woman in the stands, other times I saw someone else, but it was a rare case. Then they did increase...". She also stated that she often went to the games accompanied by her son, Norbert, who "had not yet turned his first year [he was born in 1911]. I think he was the youngest spectator to ever watch a football match".

Death and legacy

A widow since 1937, Edelmira Calvetó died in Barcelona on 29 July 1957, at the age of 75, while still a member of Barça. The day before her death, an assembly of trustees of the club was held, among which there was still not a single woman.

The feat of Edelmira Calvetó was recognized in 2011, when her name was chosen to name the working group created by the Board of Directors, at the instance of its members Susana Monje and Pilar Guinovart, to recover the memory history of Barcelona women, vindicating the role of members, promoting women's role in the club and reflecting on the role of women in sport.