Covadonga Brime was born on 26th September 1950 in the town of Oviedo, Asturias, NW Spain. She achieved her degree in Geological Sciences in June 1973, from the University of Oviedo, was awarded her PhD in Sciences (Geology) on 26 May 1978 (Oviedo University) and received her ‘Proficiency in English’ (Cambridge University) in June 1978. In October 1975, she joined the ETSIMO (the Higher Technical School of Mining Engineers of Oviedo). She worked there as an assistant professor from October 1975 until February 1983 and then, at the Department of Geology (Oviedo University), until 13th January 1987, when she was promoted to Profesor Titular de Universidad (Associate University Professor), chair which she held until she retired 25 years later on June 22, 2012. Covadonga suffered breast cancer in 2011, lived with a pacemaker from 2016 onwards, and, having been diagnosed with chronic lymphoid leukaemia in 2019, died in August 2022 at the age of 72.

See a more complete obituary by Fernando Alvarez in Clay Minerals and the note on p. 392 of Elements (2023), in which Kevin Murphy kindly wrote the following words: “Covadonga Brime: A member of the Society and friend of the Mineralogical Society has departed this world. Covadonga Brime was a regular delegate at clay conferences and was easily recognized by her warm welcome and ready smile. Farewell.”

Passionate about teaching and learning, Covadonga was an excellent, disciplined, punctual, low-key and well organized teacher and lecturer. She was not a mineralogist in the traditional sense, however. In Covadonga´s courses, which always carried her personal style, the themes of her carefully structured and first-rate lectures were updated continuously and developed to be as clear as possible. But also providing context in terms of the processes and environments in which the rocks and minerals were formed, the relationships between ore deposits, geochemistry, magmatism and geodynamics, the analytical methods used to characterize them and their role in natural and environmental sciences. Covadonga was keen that her graduate students learned not just the fundamentals of mineralogical research, but she also focused on encouraging them to think critically (in science and in everyday life), to analyse complex mineralogical problems, and to devise effective solutions, all valuable skills they would draw upon for the rest of their professional careers, in either an academic or in an industrial environment. And also, as some of her students wrote in their messages of condolence upon her passing away, “She was a woman who argued for equal rights for men and women in society and at work, and fought discrimination, whether negative or positive.”

In addition to her teaching and relationships with her students, we must also make mention of the research work, so strongly related with her teaching, that Covadonga did, as well as the national and international collaborations and friendships that she maintained over many years, and the many conferences and debates in which she participated (see a more complete obituary in Álvarez, 2024). Covadonga was widely known as an expert in the study of the processes and transformations in rocks during the early stages of metamorphic recrystallization and low-degree metamorphism all over the world, but especially in NW Spain, eastern Australia and in the Carnic Alps (Austria and Italy) (see list with many of her collaborations throughout her career in Álvarez, 2024).

All the while, Covadonga also managed to develop another of her passions, brachiopods. With Fernando Álvarez, C. H. C. Brunton and Gordon B. Curry she conducted a comparative study of the structure (microstructure and composition) and growth of fossil and Recent Brachiopoda, taking their shells as an example of the controlled formation of biominerals. She also studied the variation in shell morphology and problems associated with the compilation of data matrices for phyllognetic analysis and the preparation of electronic databases.

She attended 25 conferences, in 11 countries, at which she presented 15 papers. She was an active member of 15 societies, of which four were Spanish. She made sabbatical visits at various universities and research centres around the world. In 2012, Oviedo University awarded her a gold medal for her dedication to the institution.

Academic achievement is only part of the story, of course. Covadonga will be remembered as a jovial and very generous person, a strong woman but patient with the students, for her warmth and kindness, her ability to inspire, encourage and support, her willingness to give sound, considered advice when asked, of a deeply held sense of ethics and integrity, with a sharp mind and a wonderful sense of humour, a love of irony, and an ability to see the funny side of most things, who was a joy to work with in the lab and in the field. Covadonga, we will miss your smiling face around here!

Fernando Álvarez

Some of her publications on brachiopods...

Álvarez F. & Brime C., 1982. Aportaciones al conocimiento de las condiciones de formación de algunos depósitos fosilíferos de Devónico Cantábrico. Trabajos de Geología, 12, 153-157.

Álvarez F. & Brime C., 1983. Programa FORTRAN para el estudio biométrico de braquiópodos. Estudios Geológicos, 38, 187-191.

Álvarez F. & Brime C., 2000. Type specimens of athyrid brachiopods from the James Hall Collection. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions (New Series), 12, 1-15.

Álvarez F., Brime C. & Brunton C.H.C., 1980. The authorship of the Family Athyrididae (Brachiopoda). Journal of Paleontology, 54, 1134-1135.

Álvarez F., Curry G.B. & Brime C., 1985. Contribución al estudio comparativo de la estructura y crecimiento de la concha de braquiópodos actuales y fósiles. Trabajos de Geología, 15, 211-217.

Álvarez F., Brime C. & Curry G.B., 1987. Growth and function of the microfrills present on the Devonian brachiopod Athyris campomanesi (Verneuil & Archiac). Transaction of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 78, 65-72.

Álvarez F., Brime C., Long S. & Trigo J., 2006. La concha de los braquiópodos: un ejemplo de formación controlada de biominerales. Macla, 6, 49-52.

Álvarez F, Curry G.B., Brime C, & Anadón N., 2010. Variation in the shell morphology of Compsothyris (Brachiopoda, Recent): an example of the problems associated with the compilation of data matrices for phylogenetic analysis and the preparation of electronic databases. In: Evolution and development of brachiopod shell. (Álvarez F. & G.B. Curry, editors). Special Papers in Palaeontology, 84, 13-39.

Her other publicatons

See a more complete list in the obituary published in:

Álvarez F., 2024. An appreciation of Covadonga Brime (1950–2023). Clay Minerals, First View, p. 1-4.

British Museum (Natural History) London, August 1985
Front row (sitting): C.H.C.Brunton, G.A. Cooper & J. Cooper
Second row (standing): F. Álvarez, E. Brunton, E. Owen, R. Cocks, C. Brime
& A. Rissone