This book examines issues of sex and society in early twentieth-century Spain, with particular emphasis on eugenics and the sex reform movement. As a central narrative thread it uses the specific case history of Hildegart Rodriquez (1914-33), a 'eugenic' child who came to be one of the central players in the Spanish chapter of the World League for Sexual Reform (WLSR) and was made tragically famous when murdered by her mother. In the last two years of her life Hildegart was in correspondence with the English sexologist Havelock Ellis. Her letters to him, reproduced in the appendix, provide a unique source for understanding the WLSR in Spain, its complexities, and its relationship to similar movements elsewhere in Europe. The letters also make it possible to glimpse in poignant and dramatic detail the personal tensions and anxieties in the life of this young woman that was brought to such a premature end.

Alison Sinclair is Professor of Modern Spanish Literature and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge.