 “... the recollection of an insect, a plant, a rock, a song or a word; the description of a game, a tradition or the remains of an ancient monument: nothing is unimportant once it is put in order and considered part of the collected material…”.
Society for the Study of the Guadarrama, 1886
The JAE was an autonomous institution created in 1907 by Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes (Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts) under the auspices of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. Its aim was to promote training for teachers and researchers and provided them with the means to participate in the cutting-edge scientific and educational developments. It was a great "lab" committed to the advancement of the natural and social sciences. It put into practice new models for research and modernized educational methods, combining a cosmopolitan spirit with the recovery of Spanish cultural traditions. The most outstanding figures in science and culture worked with the JAE. Franco’s government decreed its dissolution in 1939 and established the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas ( National Research Council,) which took over the assets of the JAE. |