He won the Nobel Prize in 1906 for his discoveries on the structure of the nervous system.
14ymedio, Havana, 8 February 2025 — The trip that the Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal made as a military doctor to Cuba in 1873, during the Ten Years’ War, is the subject of an exhibition in Havana. The scientist won the Nobel Prize 1906 for his discoveries on the structure of the nervous system, and is considered the father of neuroscience. A collection of photographs about his career is on display at the Alejandro de Humboldt House Museum in the Cuban capital.
Cuba con Cajal collects infographics and photos of some moments of the scientist’s stay in the then Spanish overseas territory. A reporter from 14ymedio visited the display, where there were primary school students devoting themselves to drawing, an art in which the scientist excelled. A considerable number of people attended the inauguration, held last week.
The museum employees admitted their surprise at the crowds, but were told that the exhibition had been promoted on radio and television, as well as through the channels of the Historian’s Office. This entity, together with Spanish organizations, was the organizer of the exhibition and its current director, Perla Rosales, presided over the inauguration.
According to the exhibition poster, the Cajal Institute, the Cajal Centre and the government entity Año Cajal, collaborated from Spain to commemorate various anniversaries related to the scientist. The coordinator of the exhibition is the Spaniard Juanjo Rubio, a former director of Public Health in the autonomous community of Navarra.
The museum employees admitted their surprise at the crowds, but were told that the exhibition had been promoted on radio and television.
Although the material is expected to be on display for three months, its organizers hope that Havana will keep it.
Born in Aragon in 1852, Ramón y Cajal spent only twelve months in Cuba during the first war of independence against Spain. A member of the Military Medical Corps, he enlisted as a doctor with the rank of lieutenant in the Burgos regiment and travelled to Cuba as a captain.
The papers of the then young scientist contain evidence of his admiration for Cuba’s nature, although he suffered from – and cured his companions of – the ailments caused by the eastern Cuban jungle. He treated patients with malaria and dysentery in Camagüey, one of the most hectic areas of the war.
Fed up with the administrative chaos of the Army and the lack of resources to care for patients, and very ill himself, he asked to be discharged in 1874. With the money he saved in Cuba he bought the microscope and other instruments crucial to the research that made him famous. In 1908, the recently established Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Havana named him an academic of merit.
The focus of attention and interest in Ramón y Cajal is growing, not only among scientists but also among humanists and intellectuals around the world. This coming April, the Spanish publishing house Ladera Norte will publish a translation of Benjamin Ehrlich’s The Brain in Search of Itself, a biography of the scientist whose English version has been praised by The New York Times as “superbly documented, well written and carefully crafted.”
In April, the Spanish publishing house Ladera Norte will publish a Spanish translation of ’The Brain in Search of Itself’, by Benjamin Ehrlich, a biography of the scientist
The publisher also notes that the book “tells the epic tale of a child born in the mountains of Alto Aragón who achieves, without the support of any scientific tradition, the greatest worldwide recognition.”
“In a turbulent Spain full of light and shadow, Cajal stands out as a tireless self-taught man who only managed to get help from institutions after being considered an eminence abroad. The author of the biography highlights his efforts, his visionary thinking, his extraordinary abilities, among which his draughtsmanship stands out, and his disputes with his rivals, the most notorious being Camillo Golgi, an adversary with whom he shared the Nobel Prize.”
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
