Rosalía Mera Goyenechea (1944 – 15 August 2013) was a Spanish businesswoman (co-owner ZARA)  and entrepreneur. At the time of her death she was the richest woman in Spain.

Background

Rosalia Mera was born in Spain in 1944, during the Francisco Franco dictatorship. She dropped out of school at age eleven to work as a sales assistant in a clothing shop. She married Amancio Ortega Gaona in 1966.

Career

Mera began designing gowns and lingerie in her home with her then-husband,Amancio Ortega Gaona. The couple opened the first Zara store in 1975 and eventually couple parlayed their work into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Inditex was established as a holding company, and now comprises multiple fashion companies of which Zara is the flagship. Despite her divorce from Ortega, Mera retained a 7% stake in the company.

Mera also owned interests in a company which made fingerprinting identification kits for newborns and another company, Zeltia, which carries out research into cancerfighting compounds of both synthetic and natural origin and particularly those bioactive compounds originating in the ocean.

According to the 2013 Forbes billionaire list, Mera was the world's wealthiest self-made female entrepreneur, with a net worth of over $6 billion. She was the second-wealthiest person from Spain, second only to her ex-husband.

Personal life

Mera had a son, Marcos, who was born mentally disabled. Mera established the Paideia Foundation which works with groups in risk of social exclusion. The couple also had a daughter, Sandra.

On 14 August 2013, Mera was admitted to a hospital in Menorca in an ‘irreversible situation’ after suffering a stroke. The family had been on holiday in Menorca. Mera died on 15 August 2013 in A Coruña. She had been transferred by plane to the port city and then by ambulance to the Hospital San Rafael de A Coruña where she later died of complications.

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