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ACHIEVING EXCELLENCE

Out of the seven Spaniards awarded the Nobel Prize, for – two humanists and two scientists – were linked to the Residencia de Estudiantes, a proof of the success of the intellectual stimulation and interdisciplinary environment that the institution generated.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934), Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1906, was the first president of the JAE (Junta para Ampliación de Estudios) and his prestige and influence were present in all cultural and scientific institutions created by the JAE. He maintained a close relationship with the Residencia (as shown by the only film images that remain of him sitting in front of the Central Pavilion). He taught scientists such as Pío del Río Hortega and Juan Negrín. The resident Severo Ochoa (1905-1993), who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959, was an assistant to Juan Negrín in his laboratory at the Residencia, where he shared work and friendship with other notable scientists, such as Francisco Grande Covián, also a resident.

Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958), Nobel Prize in Literature (1956), lived in the Residencia between 1913 and 1916. He helped design the gardens of the Poplar Hill (as he called it) and directed its publications. Vicente Aleixandre (1898-1984) taught a course at the Residencia in 1920 and participated in many of its activities as a member of the Sociedad de Cursos y Conferencias. In 1977, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature as a member of the Generation of 27.