Leonor López Lucas (Cieza 1903- Mexico City 1970) was an outstanding woman, and
Like so many others in the difficult 1930s and 1940s, exceptional.
Coming from a humble family, she studied to be a midwife, and as
midwife and socialist activist dedicated her life to fighting for justice and the rights of
Women. Her story, and that of her daughter Piedad Semitiel López (Nachi), a doctor
solidarity and republican girl, are the central axis of the documentary Women of Life and
Memory, stories of an exile;, directed by Joaquín Berruecos, which will be screened
at the Atalaya Club.
This audiovisual work narrates, divided into 15 chapters and with a duration of about
45 minutes, the chronicle of five generations of women marked by the War
Spanish Civil and Migration.
Through the writings and memories of Nachi, 97 years old and with admirable lucidity,
reconstructs the life of his mother Leonor López and that of his family: leaving the town
after the victors broke into his house on the Paseo and looted it
They would take all the books out of the library to burn them; the clandestine passage of the
Pyrenees; the hardships suffered in the internment camps after exile in
France, the reunion with Father Andrés Semitiel Rubio, a medical practitioner
and surgery, the difficult years on a farm during the Nazi occupation…
Until the beginning of September 42, Andrés obtained a position at the embassy of
Mexico in Paris, the status of political refugee. “Then,” Nachi recalls,
We moved to Marseille to board the ship Marichal Lyautey which
He took us to the port of Casablanca, Morocco. We stayed there for a few days.
until we set sail on Saturday, September 19, 1942 aboard the Nyassa towards
the port of Veracruz in Mexico. We arrived on Saturday, October 17, 1942. It was
Thanks to Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas, who opened his hands to everything
Spanish political exile… “
The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Joaquín Berruecos and
María Semitiel, a direct relative of the protagonist.
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Athenaeum of the Villa de Cieza (Atalaya Club)
Free admission until full capacity is reached
English 
Spanish