Rosario de Acuña was a prominent Spanish writer, playwright, and journalist. Born into an aristocratic family, she became known early on as a pioneering advocate for women's rights and social justice. She made her theatrical debut at just 25 with Rienzi el tribuno (1876), a work that gained attention in liberal circles. Her critical articles in newspapers like Las Dominicales del Libre Pensamiento and El Imparcial denounced gender inequality. A committed freethinker, she joined the Constante Alona Masonic lodge in 1886. Her play El padre Juan (1891) – a critique of the Catholic Church – sparked scandal and was banned, prompting her to leave Madrid. From 1910, she lived in relative seclusion in El Cervigón (Gijón). An article condemning student protests against women at Madrid University ("La jarca de la Universidad", 1911) forced her into exile in Portugal. She returned in 1913 thanks to a royal pardon. In her will, she reaffirmed her break with Catholicism. She died in 1923 and was buried in the civil cemetery in Gijón.