On 8th March 2024, to mark International Women's Day, at an event promoted by the Xarxa Fones Girona, organised by the Girona City Council and Clínica Girona.
On 8 March 2024, #International Women's Day, a plaque named “Manolita Carreras i Duran Room” was installed at Clínica Girona: “A woman of great sensitivity and training, who assumed the presidency of the Clínica Girona Board of Directors when her husband, Dr. Francesc Coll i Turbau, the founding doctor of the Clinic, died”.
The event, organised by Girona City Council and Clínica Girona, was attended by Dr Eva Palau, care director at Clínica Girona, Silvia Bosch i Agustí, councillor for Emotional Wellbeing and Health at Girona City Council, and Anna Maria Cumí i Bou and Piua Salvatella i Vila, from Xarxa Dones Girona.
Dr Eva Palau, in her brief speech, praised the figure of Manolita Carreras, Dr Coll's widow, who “got the entire Clínica Girona project off the ground, which her husband was unable to continue following his death”.
Today, #DiaInternacionaldelesDones, A plaque has been installed naming the “Manolita Carreras i Duran Hall” at Clínica Girona. She was the woman who took over the chairmanship of the Clinic's Board of Directors upon the death of her husband, Dr. Coll i Turbau, the founding doctor. pic.twitter.com/tijamgGIQP
— Clínica Girona (@ClinicaGirona) 8 March 2024
Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Clínica Girona
Dr. Coll founded Clínica Girona on 15th March 1934: On 15th March 1934: before the lawyer and notary of the College of Catalonia, Jaume Genover i Codina, appear the married couple Doctor Francesc Coll i Turbau, doctor, and Mrs Manuela Carreras i Duran, without a specific profession, and the doctors: Enric Roca Pinet, Francesc Burch i Sitjar, Felip Sànchez i Llistosella, Josep Maria Riera i Pau, Joaquim Dausà Olivé, Josep Maria Bosch Masgrau and Josep Massa Servitja, and they sign the founding deed of the company “Clínica Girona S.A.“.
According to the documentation held by the Clinic, during the foundation and the first years of operation of Clínica Girona, Mrs. Manuela Carreras i Duran, wife of Dr. Coll i Turbau, played a prominent role: she contributed the land to the company and managed it as president of the first Board of Directors upon the death of Dr. Coll on 14th March 1936, less than two years after the institution had been established. Subsequently, after the War, she once again led the Board from the end of 1939 until February 1942, when Dr. Josep M. Riera replaced her in the position.
The plaque now installed in the Multipurpose Room on the Second Floor of Clínica Girona has been promoted by Xarxa Dones Girona, a network of women's associations and groups that, among other objectives, work to rescue the memory of women who have excelled in their professional fields or life projects.
Following the event, which was also attended by a small representation of the Clinic's staff and the Centre's Management Committee, the Manager, Mr. Albert Tarrats, presented the representatives of Xarxa Dones Girona with the book commemorating the 75th anniversary of Clínica Girona.
The book recounts the history of the Clinic from 1934 to 2009, and various chapters mention the figure of Mrs. Manuela Carreras, known in Girona as Manolita Carreras, “A woman of great sensitivity and education, passionate about astronomy and who enjoyed extensive knowledge of music and piano performance. She was the first president of the Popular Women's Library. Widow of Dr. Francesc Coll i Turbau, the doctor who founded Clínica Girona in 1934, at the age of fifty-one, Manolita Carreras i Duran (1884-1963) assumed the presidency of the board of directors of Clínica Girona and led the clinic until her retirement”.
The Manolita Carreras i Duran multi-purpose room, located on the second floor of Clínica Girona, directly opposite the entrance to the out-patient paediatric clinics, usually hosts the antenatal classes held at the clinic, and is a room linked to women and life that now bears its own name, firmly rooted in the institution.
