Photo: Original photo is anonymous although published by Clark University in 1899. Restoration by Garrondo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³⁴

Santiago Ramón y Cajal

Spanish neuroscientist (1852–1934)

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (Spanish: [sanˈtjaɣo raˈmon i kaˈxal]; 1 May 1852 – 17 October 1934) was a Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specialising in neuroanatomy, and the central nervous system. He and Camillo Golgi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1906.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Santiago Ramón y Cajal (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born May 1, 1852, died Oct 17, 1934.¹

About

Ramón y Cajal was the first Spaniard to win a scientific Nobel Prize. His original investigations of the microscopic structure of the brain made him a pioneer of modern neuroscience.

Hundreds of his drawings illustrating the arborization (tree-like growth) of brain cells are still in use, since the mid-20th century, for educational and training purposes.

From Wikipedia’s article on Santiago Ramón y Cajal, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones CientíficasChair 1907 to 1934³³

Early life and education

1870 to 1873Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zaragoza medicine³
Date not recordedUniversidad Central³
Date not recordedColegio Escuelas Pías of Jaca³

Career

Occupation: histologist, photographer, chemist, anatomist, essayist, physician, neurologist, pathologist.¹⁵

1910 to 1923Senator for Life of Spain^{6 13}
1908 to 1910Member of the Senate of Spain^{6 12}
1907 to 1934Academician of the Royal National Academy of Medicine^{6 11}
1907 to 1934Vocal of the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones científicas⁶
1907 to 1934President, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas^{6 10}
1907 to 1934Chair, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas¹⁴
1905 to 1934Member of the Royal Spanish Academy^{6 9}
1897 to 1934Member of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences^{6 8}
1896 to 1897President^{6 7}
Since 1892Worked at Universidad Central⁴
1887 to 1892Worked at University of Barcelona⁴
Since 1887Full professor^{5 6}
1884 to 1887Worked at University of Valencia^{4 5}

Personal life

BornMay 1, 1852, Petilla de Aragón^{16 17}
DiedOct 17, 1934, Madrid^{18 19}
CitizenshipSpain^{20 21}
ResidenceZaragoza, Madrid, Larrés²²
SpouseSilveria Fañanás 1879 to 1930^{23 24}

Politics

In 1877, the 25-year-old Ramón y Cajal joined a Masonic lodge. John Brande Trend wrote in 1965 that Ramón y Cajal "was a liberal in politics, an evolutionist in philosophy, an agnostic in religion".

Nonetheless, Ramón y Cajal used the term soul "without any shame". In his final work, El mundo visto a los ochenta años (1934), Ramón y Cajal reflected on aging, mortality, and religion while continuing to be described by biographers as an agnostic.

In a lecture given on December 5, 1897 at the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, he said the following:Esta nobleza, de la que se envanece con tanto mayor motivo cuanto que es su propia obra, consiste en ser ministro del progreso, sacerdote de la verdad y confidente del Creador. Él acierta exclusivamente a comprender algo de ese lenguaje misterioso que Dios ha escrito en los fenómenos de la Naturaleza; y a él solamente le ha sido dado desentrañar la maravillosa obra de la Creación para rendir a la Divinidad uno de los cultos más gratos y aceptos a un Supremo entendimiento, el de estudiar sus portentosas obras, para en ellas y por ellas conocerle, admirarle y reverenciarle.

{{This nobility, of which he is embellished with all the greater reason as his own work, consists of being minister of progress, priest of truth and confidant of the Creator. He succeeds exclusively in understanding something of that mysterious language that God has written in the phenomena of Nature; and he has only been given to unravel the wonderful work of Creation to give the Divinity one of the most pleasing and accepted cult understandings to a Supreme, that of studying his portentous works, to in them and for them know him, admire him and revere him.}}

Political ideology

In addition to being a regenerationist, Ramón y Cajal is considered a Spanish nationalist and centralist, and in this sense he interprets non-Spanish nationalisms, such as Catalan and Basque, describing them as separatist. Despite accepting the Statute of Núria, and, in the academic sphere, that classes could also be given in Catalan language at the university, he did not feel comfortable. Although he died in 1934, in 1937, in the midst of Spanish civil war, the Gaceta de Melilla uses an old speech of his about the need for an "iron surgeon"

implicitly positioning him with the national-Catholic rebels against the Spanish Republic: “Whatever the defeatists and pusillanimous augurs may say, the impetus of our race is not easily extinguished... It is necessary to impose the moral unity of the Peninsula, to merge the dissonances and spiritual stridor into a grandiose symphony. But for this we need the iron surgeon that Costa spoke of”

From Wikipedia’s article on Santiago Ramón y Cajal (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

1926Medalla Plus Ultra²⁵
1924doctor honoris causa from the University of Paris^{25 32}
1923honorary doctorate from the University of Strasbourg^{25 31}
1922Echegaray Medal²⁵
1922Honorary Doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico²⁵
1922honorary doctor of the University of Bordeaux^{25 30}
1915Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts order²⁵
1909Foreign Member of the Royal Society²⁵
1906Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine^{25 29}
1904Helmholtz Medal^{25 28}

More awards (6)

1902Grand cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso XII²⁵
1901Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic^{25 27}
1900Dearest Son of Zaragoza province^{25 26}
1899honorary doctor of Harvard University²⁵
1894Croonian Medal and Lecture²⁵
Date not recordedhonorary doctorate from the University of Cambridge²⁵

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal on Wikidata
2
WikipediaSantiago Ramón y Cajal on Wikipedia
3
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: education, on Wikidata
4
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: Worked at University of Valencia, on Wikidata
5
WikidataWorked at University of Valencia, as reported
6
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: Full professor, on Wikidata
7
WikidataPresident, as reported
8
WikidataMember of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, as reported
9
WikidataMember of the Royal Spanish Academy, as reported
10
WikidataPresident, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, as reported
11
WikidataAcademician of the Royal National Academy of Medicine, as reported
12
WikidataMember of the Senate of Spain, as reported
13
WikidataSenator for Life of Spain, as reported
14
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: Chair, Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, on Wikidata
15
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: occupation, on Wikidata
16
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: place of birth, on Wikidata
17
Wikidataplace of birth, as reported by www.accademiadellescienze.it
18
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: place of death, on Wikidata
19
Wikidataplace of death, as reported by Integrated Authority File
20
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: citizenship, on Wikidata
21
Wikidatacitizenship, as reported
22
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: residence, on Wikidata
23
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: spouse, on Wikidata
24
Wikidataspouse, as reported
25
WikidataSantiago Ramón y Cajal: award, on Wikidata
26
Wikidataaward, as reported
27
Wikidataaward, as reported
28
Wikidataaward, as reported
29
Wikidataaward, as reported
30
Wikidataaward, as reported
31
Wikidataaward, as reported
32
Wikidataaward, as reported by Annales de l'Université de Paris
33
WikidataJunta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, Chair
34
Wikimedia CommonsSantiago Ramón y Cajal photo by Original photo is anonymous although published by Clark University in 1899. Restoration by Garrondo, Public domain