Josefa Segovia
Josefa Segovia Morón was a leading figure in the foundation and development of the Teresian Association.
She was born in Jaen on 10 October 1891. She studied Education in Granada and then at the Superior School of Education in Madrid from which she graduated with distinction in 1913.
She returned to Jaen and met Pedro Poveda who offered her the post of academic director of the residential academy. In 1919, she was appointed the first TA president.
In October 1923, she travelled to Rome to present the Association. Pope Pius XI granted approval on 11 January 1924.
Josefa Segovia encouraged the presence of women in the University. She also fostered and encouraged educational projects and provided training for individuals who joined the TA.
At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, when she received the news of the death of Pedro Poveda and then Victoria Díez, she wrote with determination to the members of the TA, “we will continue the Work”.
She lived through an intense period working hard to bring together the people who had been dispersed by the conflict. She reopened establishments and projects, and encouraged new activities.
She maintained ongoing contact and corresponded with TA members now in various countries. She fostered attitudes of peace and reconciliation, and she always had Mary as her guide and point of reference. She died in March 1957 in Madrid.
The Teresian Association that she had joined when it was still being projected was by then present in about twenty countries. In 2005 she was declared “servant of God” in recognition of her Christian virtues.
