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Pelegrí Casanova Ciurana (València, 21/12/1849 - València, 13/06/1919)

 

 

He studied medicine in Valencia with professors such as Gómez Alamá and Ferrer y Viñerta, who were conservative in their thinking, and others such as Cisternas and Serrano Cañete, who were followers of Darwinism. After obtaining his doctorate in Madrid, he won the competitive examination for the position of Professor of Descriptive and General Anatomy at the University of Valencia, a position he held for more than forty years, and devoted himself to various fields of medicine, particularly morphology.

 

After reading the work of Ernst Haeckel (a German naturalist and philosopher who was a follower of Darwinian postulates), he corresponded with him and even attended his classes in Jena, becoming one of the staunchest supporters of evolutionism and Darwin's ideas in Spain. Thus, in 1877, he published the work La morfología humana del porvenir (The Human Morphology of the Future), and at the end of that same year, the book La biología general (General Biology), a synthesis of the theoretical foundations of morphology in accordance with Haeckel's ideas.

 

However, it was in 1882, with the publication of his speech El antropomorfismo ante la ciencia contemporánea (Anthropomorphism in Contemporary Science), that his radical stance on these issues clashed with the conservative circles of the time, generating growing hostility towards him and forcing him to take refuge in teaching and practising otorhinolaryngology, and more specifically otology.

 

Despite this, Casanova continued to participate actively in academic life: from 1890, he co-edited the Revista de Especialidades Médico-Quirúrgicas (Journal of Medical and Surgical Specialities), which appeared for two years; he was a member and eventually became president of two of the most important scientific institutions in Valencia at the time: the Royal Academy of Medicine, from 1894 to 1896, and the Valencian Medical Institute between 1897 and 1900. In 1898, he was also appointed dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Valencia.

 

In 1909, he played a prominent role in the tribute paid by medical students in Valencia to Darwin on the anniversary of his birth, events that had national repercussions and were, once again, surrounded by controversy

 

Further biographical information

 

 

Donation

 

Casanova donated his library, which contained a large collection of Darwinist texts, to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Valencia. Part of this collection was later transferred to the Library of the History of Medicine and Science, and finally to the current Biblioteca Historicomèdica.

 

Although the legacy is not physically separated and does not have its own signature, we can get an idea of the books that comprised it thanks to the ex libris with which he marked the works he owned. Thus, in our library we find more than 1,200 volumes, with editions ranging from the 16th to the early 20th century, covering not only medical and natural history topics, but also history, philosophy and even music.

 

Works in the catalogue of the Universitat de València

 

Follow the links to see which works we have in the libraries of the Universitat de València:

 

 

Bibliographic selection as author

 

Monographs

 

  • Estudios biológicos, Volumen 1: La biología general. València: Imprenta Ferrer de Orga, 1877
  • Otología: perforaciones de la membrana del tímpano. València: Imp. de R. Ortega, 1880
  • Discursos pronunciados en la inauguración de las sesiones de la Academia de Medicina de Valencia, en el año de 1881. València: Imprenta de Ferrer de Orga, 1881
  • [Próleg]. En: HAECKEL, E. Ensayos de psicología celular: conferencias sobre la teoría de la evolución. València: Librería de Pascual Aguilar, 1882
  • Principios de reforma en la instrucción nacional: discurso leído en la apertura del curso académico de 1883 a 1884 en la Universidad Literaria de Valencia. València: Universidad de Valencia, 1883
  • Aguas azoadas ... : procedimiento aprobado por la Real Academia de Medicina y Cirujía de Sevilla. Casanova, Peregrín (metge consultor); Fuente, Antonio de la (propietari). València: Impr. de Nicasio Rius Monfort, 1888
  • El doctor Luis Collado, catedrático del siglo XVI: memoria apologética: discurso leído en la solemne sesión apologética celebrada por la Facultad de Medicina de Valencia para honrar la memoria de sus antiguos catedráticos los doctores Plaza, Collado y Piquer en abril de 1895. València: Imprenta de Federico Domenech, 1895

 

Journal articles