María Cristina Vicente was born on April 29th, 1948 in León, and died on March 21st, 2000 in Barcelona. She graduated in Biology at the University of Salamanca in 1971. In 1979, she received a doctorate from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona with the doctoral thesis Contribución al estudio de los diplópodos epigeos de Cataluña. In the academic and pedagogical aspects, the Dr. Vicente was a lecturer at the UAB from 1972 until 2000. First as an assistant professor and later as a full professor. She taught of general Zoology and Zoology of arthropods and she assumed different academic positions in the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology.

As a researcher in zoology, Dr. Vicente specialized in the study of the morphology, taxonomy and ecology of different groups of diplopods in the Iberian Peninsula. As a result, she published numerous articles, many of which were in collaboration with other myriapodologists. However, she participated in multiple entomological activities and associations.

This collection, deposited in the Science and Technology Library thanks to the Institute of History of Science, contains the professional epistolary of Dra. Vicente, with 210 letters that show us that she was a reference in the study of diplopods, especially from the Iberian Peninsula. Enriching epistolary conversations with other international scholars, such as Jean-Paul Mauriès or Pedro Oromí. Likewise, letters where she collaborates and participates in different international congresses of myriapods.