The Caretaker Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento, yesterday launched Women of Gibraltar, Forgotten Narratives. This book was commissioned by the Ministry of Equality to the Gibraltar Heritage Trust in 2019 and has been written in its entirety by Chief Executive of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust Claire Montado, beautifully illustrated by the talented Beatrice Garcia, brilliantly edited by Trustees of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust Alice Mascarenhas and Yvette Zarb, and expertly overseen by The Ministry of Equality’s Policy Development Officer, Marlene Dalli.

The innovative and ground-breaking book sheds a powerful light on the lives and accomplishments of 25 individual women who were either born here, worked in Gibraltar or passed through Gibraltar. The book aims to properly chronicle women’s contributions to Gibraltar’s history and society by recording a sample of women’s names, faces and achievements from the past, bring these into the present and secure them for the future too. Women of Gibraltar, Forgotten Narratives also traces the contribution by a number of institutions which helped to shape Gibraltarian society and effect positive and long-lasting change.

Through these profiles, which take the reader from the Neanderthal era into the 16^th and up to the 21^st century, the book explores the Gibraltar of their time, the values of the society they inhabited and the changing nature of life on the Rock. Women of Gibraltar, Forgotten Narratives provides a tangible register of women role models that confronts traditional narratives of our past and offers inspiration to current and future generations.

Chief Executive of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, Claire Montado, said: ‘It has been a great privilege to be asked to undertake this piece of work and through it honour a small proportion of the women that have played in role in building the Gibraltar we know today. The book is essentially a compilation of research and writings by many others who have had the foresight to record events, anecdotes and details. Each story can be gone into in a great deal more depth, but it is hoped that this publication will function as a conversation starter or inspiration for the lives of many others to be committed to print.’

Caretaker Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento, said: ‘It gives me great pleasure to launch Women of Gibraltar, Forgotten Narratives, which is a ground-breaking book in Gibraltar. I would like to thank Claire Montado, Chief Executive of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, for agreeing to undertake this important project and for doing so in a truly commendable fashion. I would also like to thank illustrator Beatrice Garcia for bringing the historical figures presented in the book to life in a powerful and striking way. The aim of Women of Gibraltar, Forgotten Narratives is to lift women from Gibraltar’s past from obscurity and to bring to light stories that may very well have otherwise been lost to the passage of time. This is a book by women, for women, and it is particularly fitting that it is a collective of women of the present day who have secured recognition for a collective of women from our past.

‘The history of Gibraltar has undoubtedly been shaped by women and men but very often traditional and official narratives have overlooked the contributions made by women. This book endeavours to redress that imbalance and to recognise the varied roles played by women in many spheres. There may be well be more information about the women covered in this book out there. Similarly, I have no doubt that more stories about other women will come to be discovered. In this way, I believe that this book will mark a pivotal moment which will serve to encourage others to research and write about women. The Ministry of Equality’s fireside chat event on International Women’s Day 2023 asked, ‘Where are the Women of Gibraltar?’ I hope that this book goes some way to answer that question.’