The triumph of Joana Sagrera, whose husband made her close "because she was crazy"

Sant Boi de Llobregat"The case of Joana Sagrera and Guix seems like a tragic pamphlet, but it was a real case that made history, because it is the first documented case of illegal detention in the Sant Boi psychiatric hospital", says Enric Vicens, a psychiatrist and head of teaching and studies at the San Juan de Dios Health Park. Vicens, who presented the case at a round table held at the health center, explains that Joana Sagrera (1817-1874) was the daughter of an important and wealthy Valencian family who married. The youngest of the two died when he was seven or eight years old, and they were the great-great-grandparents of the former mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá. Joana inherited the estate, at the request of her mother, Anna M. Guix. We don't know if they were in love when they married or what happened at home, but around 1860 Juana wanted to separate, which was not easy in the mid-19th century. In her case, the fact that she owned part of the estate made things even more complicated. "Their living conditions had worsened considerably because Nolla placed an English director, Mr. Duvies, in charge of the factory, who went to live with his wife in the home of the Valencian couple. Everything became quite tense when the factory director's wife became Miquel Nolla's lover," explains Vicens.

The fight for separation

At that time, there were many prejudices and preconceived ideas about women, which were even scientifically defended. Joan Giné i Partagós (Barcelona, ​​​​1836-1903), rector of the University of Barcelona and director of the Nova Belén asylum, first in Gràcia and later in Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, stated: "In women, the lower power of the brain corresponds to the lower intensity of their intelligence. Women are more sentimental than creatures and more so, in general, in general.

Sagrera complained in some letters about her husband's "choleric" character and the continuous humiliation and mistreatment. She had her uncle, Gaspar Dotres, as an ally. She tried to leave home more than once. On one occasion, her husband sent for her and told her that if she did not return home she risked losing her children. She returned, but Nolla practically did not let her go out and, shortly after, Sagrera went to Madrid to speak with a lawyer who would help her manage the separation. Before going to In Madrid, Nolla made her sign a letter stating that she was leaving of her own free will and that she would not say anything against him. When she returned from Madrid, neither her husband nor her children were at home.

"At that time, they made her go see doctors Antonio Navarra and Manuel Pastor, deceiving her with the excuse that a finger needed to be treated. The two doctors examined her and determined that she had "an affective monomania, with a tendency to attacks of dementia, perhaps furious." They advised that she be transferred to a mental asylum.

Finally, they confined her to the Sant Boi mental asylum, and doctors Wenceslao Picas and Emili Pi y Molist made another report stating that she suffered from "an exaltation of the intellectual faculties and a slight depression of the affective ones, a state that, without constituting a true mental alteration, could easily." They ruled that she be separated from the family and that she remain locked up. Sagrera was able to contact her uncle, who went to the civil governor of Valencia demanding that she be allowed to leave Sant Boi. Finally, a judge decided that she be sent to A convent in Gràcia was examined by other doctors who determined that they had not noticed "even the slightest symptom of mental alienation and that she had no mental disorder." The Valencia Academy also concluded that Joana Sagrera had no mental problems.

An international debate

From then on, a debate began among various physicians both in Spain and Europe. One of the most heated moments was when the French Medicopsychological Society debated the topic, and the concept of monomania received harsh criticism, as Marta Cuñat Romero reports in the article "Las cartas locales de Doña Juana Sagrera," published in the CSIC's journal on the history of psychiatry. "Brière de Boismont published the article "The Sagrera Affair» to the Medical-Psychological Annals and made a biased reading of Joana Sagrera's letters and came to the conclusion that she wanted nothing to do with her children, even though she was constantly asking about them," says Vicens. Sagrera's case was reported in the European and American press. In the end, the judge ruled that she had been the victim of an innocent arrest and: the director of the mental hospital, Antoni Pujadas; Miquel Nolla; and Joana's brothers who had helped her, Francesc and Lluís Joana Sagrera was able to separate from Miquel Nolla, but she was practically unable to have any relationship with her children.