The Universitat honours the 480th death anniversary of Lluís Vives in an online ceremony

  • Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Society
  • May 5th, 2020
 
The statue of Lluís Vives at the Senate of the Universitat de València (La Nau Cultural Centre). Paco Burguera.
The statue of Lluís Vives at the Senate of the Universitat de València (La Nau Cultural Centre). Paco Burguera.

Every year on 6 May, the Universitat de València organises a ceremony in memory of the humanist Joan Lluís Vives. The date corresponds to his 480th death anniversary. During such ceremonies, the participants usually read his texts and place a laurel wreath on the statues of some most famous Valencians overseeing the Senate of the Universitat de València at La Nau Cultural Centre. Since it was impossible to hold the ceremony as usual due to the Covid-19 crisis, the figure of Lluís Vives shall be commemorated online.

Organised by the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and the Association of Friends of Lluís Vives, the ceremony will consist in the readings of text fragments of this Valencian humanist and will be streamed on the La Nau YouTube channel as well as shared on other social networks of the centre.

Various members of the university community will participate in the event: María Jesús García Mateu, the director of the Historical Library; Amparo Guillot, an adjunct professor in retirement; Victoria García, the director of the Libraries and Documentation Service; Adrià Besó, the head of the Heritage Organisation; Teresa Ferrer, the director of the UV Publication Services; and the vice-principal Antonio Ariño.

It is important to note that the life of Vives was affected by the situation of epidemic. His mother, Blanca or Blanquina, died from plaque in September 1508 at the age of about 35.

The sculpture of Vives overseeing the UV Senate and located at the historical building of La Nau was designed by José Aixà upon request of José Monserrat Riutort. It was mounted in the centre of the Senate of the Universitat de València in 1880. The solid statue was cast in bronze as a single piece by the renown Vicente Ríos Enrique, which was a technical achievement at that time.

The Universitat de València is the only institution in the world that decided to dedicate its most importance place to its student, given that Vives was a student at the Universitat de València, but not a professor.