exhibition - 100% Residencia. A legacy recovered

1876

Francisco Giner de los Ríos and other university professors created the Institución Libre de Enseñanza.

1882

The Museo Pedagógico de Instrucción Primaria opened, later renamed as the Museo Pedagógico Nacional. Manuel Bartolomé Cossío was Director from1883 until his retirement in 1929.

1883

The Comisión de Reformas Sociales was established. In1903 it became the Instituto de Reformas Sociales. Both institutions, headed by Gumersindo de Azcárate, a member of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, were in charge of the first social security planning.

1900

The Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y Bellas Artes was created.

1907

The Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE), headed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, was established. Between 1907 and 1939, the JAE granted some 3.500 fellowships for young graduates to further their studies at the most prestigious centre in the world.
The Institut d’Estudis Catalans was created in Barcelona.

1910

The JAE created the Centro de Estudios Históricos, headed by Ramón Menéndez Pidal; the Escuela Española de Historia y Arqueología in Roma; the Residencia de Estudiantes; and the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Físico-Naturales, directed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, with Blas Cabrera working in the Laboratorio de Investigaciones Físicas, later named the Instituto Nacional de Física y Química; and Ignacio Bolívar at the head of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales. In 1918, the Instituto-Escuela was established.
The Royal Decree of May 6 established the Residencia de Estudiantes and it opened its doors on October 1, on Fortuny Street in Madrid, with 15 students. Jorge Guillén, Miguel Prados, and Pere Bosch Gimpera were among the first residents.

1911

On February 19, King Alfonso XIII visited the Residencia, thanks to the intercession of painter Joaquín Sorolla. He was accompanied by the minister of Public Education and other dignitaries and was welcome by the board of the JAE, headed by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, with José Castillejo, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Alberto Jiménez Fraud, and the then 14 residents.
Pere Coromines published on April 15 in El Poble Català, Barcelona, “Una Residencia d’Estudiants a Madrid,” where he emphasized its “peaceful atmosphere, a friendly place to rest where everything has an air of gentile simplicity.”

1912

The first two laboratories of the Residencia were created. These facilities were increased when the center moved to The Poplars Hill.
Summer courses for Foreign Students started.
José Ortega y Gasset gave his first lecture at the Residencia, an activity that he continued regularly until 1936.

1913

Juan Ramón Jiménez started living at the Residencia and got deeply involved in its projects, such as its publications, together with Ortega y Gasset, Federico de Onís, José Moreno Villa, and Alberto Jiménez Fraud.
The Residencia de Estudiantes published its first work.

1914

The Children Group was created, with Emilio Prados and José (Pepín) Bello Lasierra among its first students.
The Residencia published José Ortega y Gasset’s Meditaciones del Quijote, the second title of its publications.

1915

The Residencia de Estudiantes moved to its new site on Pinar St., on The Poplars Hill.
The Residencia de Señoritas, directed by María de Maeztu, opened on Fortuny Street at numbers 28 - 30.

1916

Henri Bergson lectured at the Residencia.

1917

José Moreno Villa moved into the Residencia, where he lived until 1936 .
Luis Buñuel arrived at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he stayed until 1925.
The Residencia de Estudiantes published the first edition of Antonio Machado’s Poesías completas.

1919

Federico García Lorca arrived at the Residencia, where he lived until 1928.

1922

Salvador Dalí arrived at the Residencia, where he stayed until 1926.
H. G. Wells, Francesc Cambó, Teixeira de Pascoaes, and Eugénio de Castro gave lectures at the Residencia.

1923

Albert Einstein delivered his lecture on the theory of relativity, with simultaneous translation by José Ortega y Gasset.

1924

Paul Valéry, Howard Carter, and Gabriela Mistral gave lectures at the Residencia.

1925

Louis Aragon’s lecture.
Severo Ochoa began working with Juan Negrín at the Laboratory of Physiology; he later moved into the Residencia, where he lived until 1931.

1926

The first issue of the journal Residencia appeared in April.
Max Jacob, H. Keyserling, and G. K. Chesterton gave lectures.
The Lyceum Club Femenino was founded.

1927

Gabriel Celaya arrived at the Residencia, where he remained until 1935.
Luis Buñuel started a series showing avant-garde films. He continued with the series the following year.

1928

Maurice Ravel’s concert, and performance of Manuel de Falla’s El retablo de maese Pedro.
F. T. Marinetti and Le Corbusier gave lectures.

1929

The Sociedad de Cursos y Conferencias organized Españoles Residentes en París, an exhibition shown at the Botanic Garden.
The International Congress the League of Nations was hold at the Residencia.

1930

John M. Keynes, Walter Gropius, and Arthur S. Eddington gave lectures.

1931

Marie Curie’s lecture.
Performance of Igor Stravinsky’s L'Histoire du soldat, with Cipriano Rivas Cherif, Daniel Vázquez Díaz, Ernesto Halffter, Luis Cernuda, and José Caballero.
Performance by Teatro Universitario La Barraca in the gardens of the Residencia.
The Misiones Pedagógicas (Educational Missions) were established.

1932

The new site of the Instituto Nacional de Física y Química, headed by Blas Cabrera, opened.

1933

The Committee for the Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations, chaired by Marie Curie, met at the Residencia.
Alexander Calder presented his Cirque, a miniature circus.
The new auditorium was inaugurated.
La Argentinita and Rafael Ortega performed Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo.
Igor Stravinsky’s concert.
The Colegio de España opened in Paris.
The University Cruise to the Mediterranean Sea was organized.

1935

J. S. Bach’s Concert conducted by Gustavo Pittaluga and performed by Francis Poulenc, Sulima Stravinsky, Rosa García Ascot, and Leopoldo Querol..

1936

After the outbreak of the Civil War, the Residencia obtained diplomatic immunity through the American and British embassies.
José Ortega y Gasset, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, Gregorio Marañón, Dámaso Alonso and their families, among others, took shelter at the Residencia.
The buildings of the Residencia were occupied by a motorized division and converted into a military hospital directed by Luis Calandre, a former physician of the house.

1939

On March 28, Franco’s army took Madrid. Air force troops occupied the la Residencia and used it as a dining hall for officers.
The Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) was created. The buildings and assets of the JAE were transferred to the CSIC.
The Poplars Hill radically changed: the Central and Twin Pavilions became a residence hall for CSIC researchers, and the auditorium was rebuilt as the Church of the Holy Ghost.