The 4th of March marked the 140th anniversary of the birth in Alcoy of Virginia Soler Alberola, daughter of Francisco Soler Jover. Who was this alcoholic? It was the “wick”( 1), Dr. Virginia Soler Alberola, who was born in 1883, following graduating from high school in June 1901 with an A, studied medicine at the University of Barcelona, she was the only woman, they sat her in the In the front row of her classroom, she completed her entire degree with honors and distinctions, obtaining her degree on October 10, 1908. It is noteworthy that she was a classmate of the famous ophthalmologist Dr. Barraquer, from her same class, with whom she remained friends throughout her class. life.
Our countrywoman Virginia, with her brand new title, once the pertinent procedures were completed, was soon enrolled in the Official College of Physicians of Alicante, being the first female physician registered in Alicante, and might be from the Valencian region. If she soon went to college, she also soon opened her particular clinic in Alcoy.
Doña Virginia was simply beautiful, seriously serious, but affable and even funny at times, but with personal grace. She lived, and had set up her office, at 23 San Blas street, on the same farm was the office of the Chamber of Urban Property.
Virginia was a fervent Alcoyan with a liberal proceeding, a woman of sharp intelligence, she glimpsed the vanities of the world with a certain irony. In love with her profession, she diagnosed promptly and treated her parish kindly, for which she was well known and appreciated.
Mrs. Virginia Soler Alberola was single, and already of advanced age, a group of doctors from Alcoy suggested that, even if she did not leave her home, that she move to reside in the “San Jorge Sanatorium” on Oliver Street, where at the Once she would be well cared for, she would not stop practicing medicine, since at certain times she would be able to care for people hospitalized in this medical establishment. Doña Virginia agreed, very grateful since she would fulfill her desire to feel like “the wick” -as it was generally called-, until the last moment, and peacefully, on the threshold of an followingnoon near spring, so as not to cause inconvenience, she died. on March 3, 1965, at age 82. Curiously, the same year Dr. Ignacio Barraquer died.
Dr. Virginia Soler Alberola is, without a doubt, one of the illustrious women from Alcoy, one of the outstanding and enterprising ones, one of those who deserve recognition from her city, for being one of the pioneers in the medical profession, and this without the need for to shout, or use subliminal propaganda, just like intelligent people.
(1).- Doctor.
