A hidden force in Spanish geology, Inocenta González Vázquez (1893–1972)

This study recovers the overlooked contributions of Inocenta González Vázquez (1893-1971) to early twentieth-century geology and palaeontology in Spain and Latin America. A trained educator recognized for her work with blind and deaf pupils, Inocenta transitioned from teaching to scientific documentation after marrying geologist José Royo Gómez in 1920. Her intellectual work, -cataloguing, annotating, and organizing thousands of photographs, was essential to the production and preservation of geological knowledge. Among the most tangible traces of her work are more than 6000 images, meticulously labelled with site names, stratigraphic units, and lithological descriptions, forming a visual archive that underpinned Royo Gómez's publications and exhibitions. Drawing on archival sources, diaries, and photographic collections mainly in Spain, this study situates Inocenta within historiographical frameworks of the invisible technician , the feminization of pedagogical professions, and domestic spaces as scientific workplaces. Her biography reveals the blurred boundaries between education and research and underscores the gendered dynamics of scientific collaboration. By restoring her role as co-producer of scientific order, this paper contributes to ongoing debates on gender, mobility, and the material culture of science, highlighting the collaborative foundations of geological knowledge. (186 words < 200)