Famous Spanish Educators

Spanish scholar Isidore of Seville is widely remembered as the last of the Western Latin Fathers. His Etymologies was a chief reference book for years. The 7th-century archbishop of Sevilla wrote about varied subjects, such as religion, science, history, and linguistics. He had a major role in the Councils of Toledo.

Spanish Catholic priest Joseph Calasanz founded the Pious Schools, whose followers, the Piarists, dedicated themselves to the service of the poor. He was the man behind Europe’s first free school for children from impoverished homes. A friend of Galileo Galilei, he supported the heliocentric system, unlike other religious orders.

Hasdai ibn Shaprut was a Jewish scholar, diplomat, physician, and patron of science. He served as a personal physician to Abd-ar-Rahman III and went on to become the latter's faithful counselor and confidant. Hasdai ibn Shaprut became an influential figure in the court of Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III and had a say in the matters of foreign affairs.

A Spanish benediction monk, Pedro Ponce de León is best remembered for his pioneering work, which helped several deaf persons to speak and write.  Although he was not the creator of the modern sign language, he has been credited with developing manual alphabets based on monastic sign language, which was quite effective in achieving its objective.    

Part of the Generation of '27, renowned Spanish poet Pedro Salinas y Serrano had also been a professor at the Johns Hopkins University. Educated at the Sorbonne, he also taught Spanish at Seville and later joined Cambridge, too. He is also known for his research on Rubén Darío and Jorge Manrique.

Eighteenth-century Spanish essayist Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro was a monk of the Benedictine order and also taught theology and philosophy at the University of Oviedo. He later wrote on a variety of subjects such as medicine, philology, and law, in Teatro crítico universal and Cartas eruditas y curiosas.

Spanish Jewish spiritual leader Shlomo ibn Aderet, also known as the Rabbi of Spain and Rashba, is remembered for his 1305 decree that threatened to excommunicate all Jewish science and philosophy students below 25, except medical students. Many of his responsa, or replies, to enquiries on Jewish law still remain.

Moses ibn Ezra, or Abū Hārūn Mūsā, was one of the best Spanish Jewish poets and a pioneer of secular verse. He had fallen in love with his niece, but she had been married off to someone else, inspiring him to write poetry which spoke of love and old age.