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Luis Simarro's Legacy


Description of Funds

Luis Simarro Legacy is made up of pictorial, bibliographic, documentary and scientific and technical funds.

The library consists of over 4000 volumes, one hundred of them prior to the nineteenth century. The remarkable gallery includes paintings by Sorolla, Madrazo, Beruete, Sala, Casanova, and numerous engravings by various authors, highlighting Durero and Goya, as well as some of Simarro works. The fund also includes plenty of personal documents of others contemporary celebrities with whom Simarro had relationship. Finally, the legacy is completed by the scientific-technical material including many drawings and histological analysis complementing the works made by “Ramón y Cajal”. In addition, there are some agendas that reflect the clinical activity of Dr. Simarro and technical equipment used in Experimental Psychology labs.

The History of the Collection

This important legacy was donated by Luis Simarro, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the Complutense, to the foundation bearing his name on November 11, 1927. After the Civil War, as a consequence of the Ministerial Decree dated 12 May 1945, the foundation became part of the Central University of Madrid. The foundation assets were divided into the former Faculty of Arts of Complutense and “Luis Vives” Institute until 1982. The same year that the collection was transferred to the Faculty of Psychology of Complutense University by decision of Proffesors Yela and Campos Bueno to reduce the risk of damage to a significant part of the Collection. Since then, the Simarro"s legacy would hold an important place at the Complutense again.

In order to promote the Simarro Foundation activities and catalogue their funds, a Delegate Committee was appointed by the university Concil. In the late 80s, due to a reorganization of Complutense foundations, the UCM General Foundation took over Luis Simarro’s collection which has been one of their fundamental pillars up to now. Cipriano Rodrigo Lavín, Mariano Yela Hail, José Javier Campos and Rafael Good Llavona Uribelarrea have historically been responsible for the management of Simarro Foundation.