Childhood (1940-1950)

Pilar was born on October 12th in Madrid, where she lives most of her life, in a well-off family, in the post-war period. Her mother Rosario García Vázquez, was born in Canillejas, Madrid, and her father Francisco Lara Fernández, is a representative of the family business located in Úbeda (Jaén). She is the youngest of three sisters: Rosario and Josefa, and is christened Pilar as in her saint’s day.

Her family leaves her maternal grandmother’s flat in calle Valverde, where they took refuge during the war, and moves to their own apartment in calle Altamirano.

She becomes ill with scarlet fever, an infectious bacterial disease among children, widely spread during the post-war period. She was bedridden for weeks. Her condition is severe, affecting her heart, and it will mark her life.

After some years of training within the family, she receives the primary education at “Colegio de las Escolapias” [Escolapias School], located in calle Evaristo San Miguel.

She becomes seriously ill, for a second time, with a lung infection. She drops out of school for a year. After this, her family’s concern about her health condition, will turn into an obsession. She’ll be considered a sickly child. Later in her life, Pilar will recall having spent a “pampered childhood”, in her own words.

Her family moves to a new flat, in calle Narváez.