Mari Carmen Aguacil Aranda
Mª Carmen was born in Cabra, a small town in the sierra de Córdoba, into the heart of a humble family of orchard farmers. Her path through life, just like her three brothers, seemed to be written. There was not much promise on the scene until a twist of fate intervened to change her future unexpectedly.
Her curiosity to learn and to know other cultures had no limits and at nine years old she had begun to grow tired of her small town, so when an childless uncle of her mother proposed that she go to live with his family in Casablanca, Morocco, Mª Carmen did not hesitate for a moment.
In Casablanca Mª Carmen went to university, to study a degree in Pharmacy and at 21 years of age she moved to Madrid to take up a role in one of the city's important laboratories. Independent, determined and a perfectionist, her devotion to her profession was such that she remained single. She lived alone in Madrid, but like to return to Cabra during the holidays to meet up with her family, to the loving home environment that she deeply missed.
Her brothers describe her as a pretty, tanned woman with large dark eyes but the thing that distinguished her the most was her good heart and her generosity. They say that "she was friendly to everyone, but she was reserved and revealed very little about her personal life. Of her life in Madrid we know very little because when she came to town she liked to go unnoticed. She missed us a lot and she often said that she regretted the decision she took as a child to leave the family behind". Leukaemia struck when she as 53 years old, but it was detected too late. She died at the age of 57, sheltered by the love of her three brothers, her nephews and of this great family that she had been deprived of during her life.