Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri (December 12, 1916 - July 16, 1975) began her studies in Chemistry in Madrid in 1933. One Sunday in 1944, while attending Mass, she felt "touched by the grace of God". She met St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, who taught her that Christ can be found in professional work and in ordinary life. He joined Opus Dei a few months later, traveled to Mexico and Rome to help launch apostolic and educational initiatives, and returned to Spain, to Madrid, in 1958. There he taught physics at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute and also began his doctoral thesis at the CSIC under the direction of Piedad de la Cierva.
His thesis, "Insulating refractories with rice husk ashes", sought to "avoid the useless waste of thermal energy by keeping the temperature high and reducing heat dispersion". Specifically, it was decided to use a product from the calcination of an agricultural residue, rice husks, a more efficient material than diatomaceous earth, the raw material used until then. Moreover, the use of rice husks means giving an industrial use to an agricultural waste, thus closing the rice production circuit in a recoverable and efficient way. It is circular economy and energy saving in the middle of the 20th century.
Guadalupe also wanted to find and develop organic molecule-compounds capable of adhering to dirt (stains on textiles), through one end of the molecule. In this way, stained fabrics could be cleaned and removed, with the corresponding savings in water, detergents and energy.
In 1967, she became a professor at the Escuela Femenina de Maestría Industrial. In addition, she was assistant director and professor of Textile Chemistry at the Centro de Estudios e Investigación de Ciencias Domésticas (CEICID).
Her joy, strength and commitment to all those around her, her strong love for the Eucharist and Our Lady characterized her. She suffered from heart disease for many years and died at the age of 58. She was beatified in Madrid in 2019 and is thus presented to us as a model for lay people in general and scientists in particular.
University of Oviedo. SCS-Spain.
