Residencia de estudiantes
Encyclopedia
The Residencia de Estudiantes, literally the "Student Residence", is one of the original Spanish cultural centers in Madrid
, Spain
. During the first half of the twentieth century, the Residence was a prestigious cultural institution that helped foster and create the intellectual environment of Spain's brightest young thinkers, writers, and artists.
In 1915, it was moved to its permanent site, the Hill of Poplars. Its director, Alberto Jiménez Fraud, ran the Residencia as a meeting place open to creativity, intellectual and interdisciplinary dialogue. The Residencia and the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios were the product of the innovative ideas generated by the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, founded by Francisco Giner de los Ríos
in 1876.
The mission of the Residencia was to complement university education by fostering an exciting intellectual and living environment for its students. It strongly encouraged the constant dialogue between Science and the Arts, welcome the avant-garde ideas from abroad, and became the focal point for spreading modernity in Spain.
Some of its residents were among the leading figures of Spanish culture in the twentieth century, such as the poet Federico García Lorca, the painter Salvador Dalí, the film maker Luis Buñuel, and the Nobel Prize winner, scientist Severo Ochoa.
Writers and artists such as Miguel de Unamuno, Alfonso Reyes, Manuel de Falla, Juan Ramón Jiménez, José Ortega y Gasset, Pedro Salinas, Blas Cabrera, Eugenio d´Ors and Rafael Alberti were frequent visitors and lodged at the Residencia during their stay in Madrid.
The Residencia was also a forum for discussion and dissemination of intellectual ideas in Europe. Many prominent figures came to the Residencia for that purpose, people such as Albert Einstein, Paul Valéry, Marie Curie, Igor Stravinsky, John M. Keynes, Alexander Calder, Walter Gropius, Henri Bergson and Le Corbusier. These personalities were often invited by two private associations, the Sociedad de Cursos y Conferencias and the Comité Hispano-inglés, which worked closely with the Residencia and served as link to a broader sector of society.
in 1936. During this time, many Spanish artists and writers, members of the Generation of '98
and Generation of '27
, visited, studied and lectured at the Residence, including Federico García Lorca
, Luis Buñuel
, Salvador Dalí
, José Ortega y Gasset
, Rafael Alberti
, Dámaso Alonso
, Luis Cernuda
, Miguel de Unamuno
, Antonio Machado
and Ramón del Valle-Inclán
, and other innovative thinkers such as Einstein, Howard Carter
, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Paul Valéry
, Marie Curie
, Igor Stravinski, Paul Claudel
, Louis de Broglie, Herbert George Wells, Max Jacob
, Le Corbusier
, Keynes, etc. The biopic Little Ashes
(2009) depicts the Residencia in the 1920s, and the relationship of Lorca, Dalí, and Buñuel who were there at the time.
The Spanish Civil War
indicated an end to this intellectual period because many artists and writers were exiled from the country, and censorship increased under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco
.
Some of these prestigious creators are Mercedes Cebrián, David Mayor, Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
, Joaquín Pérez Azaústre, and Eva Mendoza.
Today, the Residencia is again a unique center in Spain’s cultural life. The Spanish State trough an independent foundation manages and owns the Residencia, which is one of the associated research bodies of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Trustees of the Residencia include government officials at the state, regional and local level, as well as notorious private benefactors. The Residencia's honorary president is HRH The Prince of Asturias
.
All throughout the year, the Residencia organizes numerous public events with the participation of leading figures in the Arts and Sciences, such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Pierre Boulez, Martinus Veltman, Ramón Margalef, Jacques Derrida, Blanca Varela and Massimo Cacciari, among others. Conferences, workshops, round-table discussions, concerts, poetry readings, exhibitions, etc, make the Residencia a place for open debate, critical thinking and creativity, centered on the trends of our times.
Each year, over 3,000 scholars, artists and other professionals from all over the world live for short periods of time in the Residencia.
The Centro de Documentación (library and archives) holds a unique collection of documents and books, with especial emphasis on the intellectual and scientific history of Spain during the first third of the twentieth century. These documents include the private archives of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Jesús del Bal y Gay, Fernando de los Ríos and León Sánchez Cuesta.
The archives of the Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios and the Museo Pedagógico Nacional are also kept here. Descriptions of those documents, the library and digitalized materials are available on the Red de Centros and Archivo Virtual de la Edad de Plata de la cultura española (1868–1936 ), a project led by the Residencia with financial support from the Fundación Marcelino Botín.
The Residencia is currently developing several research projects focused on two main areas: the study and dissemination of the archives and the analysis of current intellectual trends in order to explore how our culture is evolving and where is it going.
In 1990, the Residencia re-established its publishing house, which publishes research works, critical editions of the historical texts kept in its archives, poetry readings, lecturers and seminars held at the Residencia. Exceptional testimonies, such as the Archivo de la Palabra and the periodical Residencia are among its publications.
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. During the first half of the twentieth century, the Residence was a prestigious cultural institution that helped foster and create the intellectual environment of Spain's brightest young thinkers, writers, and artists.
History
The Residencia de Estudiantes was founded in Madrid in 1910 by the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios. It became the first cultural center of Spain and until 1936 the Residencia remained a vibrant, fruitful hub for scientific and artistic work and exchange in Europe.In 1915, it was moved to its permanent site, the Hill of Poplars. Its director, Alberto Jiménez Fraud, ran the Residencia as a meeting place open to creativity, intellectual and interdisciplinary dialogue. The Residencia and the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios were the product of the innovative ideas generated by the Institución Libre de Enseñanza, founded by Francisco Giner de los Ríos
Francisco Giner de los Ríos
Francisco Giner de los Ríos was a philosopher, educator and one of the most influential Spanish intellectuals at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century....
in 1876.
The mission of the Residencia was to complement university education by fostering an exciting intellectual and living environment for its students. It strongly encouraged the constant dialogue between Science and the Arts, welcome the avant-garde ideas from abroad, and became the focal point for spreading modernity in Spain.
Some of its residents were among the leading figures of Spanish culture in the twentieth century, such as the poet Federico García Lorca, the painter Salvador Dalí, the film maker Luis Buñuel, and the Nobel Prize winner, scientist Severo Ochoa.
Writers and artists such as Miguel de Unamuno, Alfonso Reyes, Manuel de Falla, Juan Ramón Jiménez, José Ortega y Gasset, Pedro Salinas, Blas Cabrera, Eugenio d´Ors and Rafael Alberti were frequent visitors and lodged at the Residencia during their stay in Madrid.
The Residencia was also a forum for discussion and dissemination of intellectual ideas in Europe. Many prominent figures came to the Residencia for that purpose, people such as Albert Einstein, Paul Valéry, Marie Curie, Igor Stravinsky, John M. Keynes, Alexander Calder, Walter Gropius, Henri Bergson and Le Corbusier. These personalities were often invited by two private associations, the Sociedad de Cursos y Conferencias and the Comité Hispano-inglés, which worked closely with the Residencia and served as link to a broader sector of society.
Notable guests
The Residence's influence was particularly strong from its foundation in 1910 until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1936. During this time, many Spanish artists and writers, members of the Generation of '98
Generation of '98
The Generation of '98 was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish-American War ....
and Generation of '27
Generation of '27
The Generation of '27 was an influential group of poets that arose in Spanish literary circles between 1923 and 1927, essentially out of a shared desire to experience and work with avant-garde forms of art and poetry. Their first formal meeting took place in Seville in 1927 to mark the 300th...
, visited, studied and lectured at the Residence, including Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
, Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
, Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset
José Ortega y Gasset was a Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist working during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. He was, along with Nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism.-Biography:José Ortega y Gasset was...
, Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti
Rafael Alberti Merello was a Spanish poet, a member of the Generation of '27....
, Dámaso Alonso
Dámaso Alonso
Dámaso Alonso y Fernández de las Redondas was a Spanish poet, philologist and literary critic. Though a member of the Generation of '27, his best-known work dates from the 1940s onwards. -Early life and education:...
, Luis Cernuda
Luis Cernuda
Luis Cernuda , was a Spanish poet and literary critic.-Life and career:...
, Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
, Antonio Machado
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
and Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón del Valle-Inclán
Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña , Spanish dramatist, novelist and member of the Spanish Generation of 98, is considered perhaps the most noteworthy and certainly the most radical dramatist working to subvert the traditionalism of the Spanish...
, and other innovative thinkers such as Einstein, Howard Carter
Howard Carter
Howard Carter may refer to:* Howard Carter , English archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb* Howard Carter , American basketball player...
, Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Paul Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
, Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
, Igor Stravinski, Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...
, Louis de Broglie, Herbert George Wells, Max Jacob
Max Jacob
Max Jacob was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.-Life and career:After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, France, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career...
, Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
, Keynes, etc. The biopic Little Ashes
Little Ashes
Little Ashes is a 2008 Spanish-British drama film, set against the backdrop of Spain during the 20s and 30s, as three of the era's most creative young talents meet at university and set off on a course to change their world...
(2009) depicts the Residencia in the 1920s, and the relationship of Lorca, Dalí, and Buñuel who were there at the time.
Spain's "Silver Age"
The first decades of the twentieth century in Spain are known as the Silver Age - a period of rich intellectual expansion of ideas, when words and images gained a new power of expression, both artistically and politically. The Residencia de Estudiantes was one of the most important institutions of the time because it allowed the great thinkers of the time to come together and fulfil their enlightened ideas. The intellectuals at the Residencia de Estudiantes also began an institution known as tertulias - groups of artists and writers who would gather together daily, during day or night, at cafes, bars and houses to discuss their ideas and opinions.The Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
indicated an end to this intellectual period because many artists and writers were exiled from the country, and censorship increased under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
.
Today
Nowadays, the Residencia de Estudiantes is one of the most prominent cultural centres in the city of Madrid. It hosts concerts, conferences and exhibitions. The Residencia de Estudiantes is also inhabited by around 20 young outstanding artists and researchers, which keep alive the historical legacy of this place.Some of these prestigious creators are Mercedes Cebrián, David Mayor, Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
Miguel Álvarez-Fernández
Miguel Álvarez-Fernández is a sound artist, composer, theorist and curator based between Madrid and Berlin, where he has taught at the Electronic Music Studio of the Technical University of Berlin...
, Joaquín Pérez Azaústre, and Eva Mendoza.
Today, the Residencia is again a unique center in Spain’s cultural life. The Spanish State trough an independent foundation manages and owns the Residencia, which is one of the associated research bodies of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Trustees of the Residencia include government officials at the state, regional and local level, as well as notorious private benefactors. The Residencia's honorary president is HRH The Prince of Asturias
Felipe, Prince of Asturias
Felipe, Prince of Asturias de Borbón y de Grecia; born 30 January 1968), is the third child and only son of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain....
.
All throughout the year, the Residencia organizes numerous public events with the participation of leading figures in the Arts and Sciences, such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Pierre Boulez, Martinus Veltman, Ramón Margalef, Jacques Derrida, Blanca Varela and Massimo Cacciari, among others. Conferences, workshops, round-table discussions, concerts, poetry readings, exhibitions, etc, make the Residencia a place for open debate, critical thinking and creativity, centered on the trends of our times.
Each year, over 3,000 scholars, artists and other professionals from all over the world live for short periods of time in the Residencia.
The Centro de Documentación (library and archives) holds a unique collection of documents and books, with especial emphasis on the intellectual and scientific history of Spain during the first third of the twentieth century. These documents include the private archives of Federico García Lorca, Luis Cernuda, Jesús del Bal y Gay, Fernando de los Ríos and León Sánchez Cuesta.
The archives of the Junta para la Ampliación de Estudios and the Museo Pedagógico Nacional are also kept here. Descriptions of those documents, the library and digitalized materials are available on the Red de Centros and Archivo Virtual de la Edad de Plata de la cultura española (1868–1936 ), a project led by the Residencia with financial support from the Fundación Marcelino Botín.
The Residencia is currently developing several research projects focused on two main areas: the study and dissemination of the archives and the analysis of current intellectual trends in order to explore how our culture is evolving and where is it going.
In 1990, the Residencia re-established its publishing house, which publishes research works, critical editions of the historical texts kept in its archives, poetry readings, lecturers and seminars held at the Residencia. Exceptional testimonies, such as the Archivo de la Palabra and the periodical Residencia are among its publications.
External links
- Official site http://www.residencia.csic.es/en/pres/presenta.htm