“A Gem of Many Colors”: Articulating Migration in Isabel de Palencia’s I Must Have Liberty (1940)

Uprooted from her homeland in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, Isabel Oyarzábal Smith (1878–1974)—writer, political activist, journalist—became one of the many Spaniards to begin a life of exile in Mexico. Also known as Isabel de Palencia, one of her most enduring works is I Must Have Liberty (1940), a vivid autobiographical account, which begins as an origin story and traces the significant happenings in her life to the time of publication. Born in Málaga to a Spanish father and Scottish mother, she grew up in a progressive household, would later embrace Republican ideals and, for her convictions, “chose” a life of exile rather than remain in conservative, dictatorial Spain. This chapter traces the period in Palencia’s life from her departure from Spain to Sweden, where she was serving as Ambassador of Spain, and then to her arrival and taking up residence in Mexico. She articulates a journey of migration from the lens of social privilege, in a transformational time, through the clamorous title in English (I Must Have Liberty) that articulates disjunction and fusion, through the ephemeral liminality of her ambassadorship and subsequent passage by sea to the concrete in Mexico City. This chapter affirms Pilar Nieva de la Paz’s assertion that Palencia should be recognized as one of the (female) pioneers to bear personal testimony of the nexus between Spanish history and women’s role in the historical achievements and processes of the first half of the twentieth century. It incorporates migration systems theory to explain the mosaic “gem of many colors,” which Palencia marvels upon in the Mexican sky, through an analysis of her social, political, historical, and economic contexts.