author
Rafael Altamira
1866–1951
A Spanish historian, jurist, and educator who moved easily between scholarship and public life, he became known for bringing a modern, rigorous approach to history while also working for international understanding. His career stretched from university teaching in Spain to service as a judge at the Permanent Court of International Justice.
1 Audiobook
A History of Spain founded on the Historia de España y de la civilización española of Rafael Altamira
by Charles E. (Charles Edward) Chapman, Rafael Altamira
About the author
Born in Alicante in 1866, Rafael Altamira y Crevea grew into one of Spain’s most respected intellectuals. He studied law, taught legal history, and became closely connected with reform-minded educational circles, especially those inspired by the Institución Libre de Enseñanza.
Altamira wrote widely on Spanish history, literature, and culture, and he was especially valued for treating history as a serious, evidence-based discipline. He was also an active pedagogue and public thinker, with a strong interest in how education could strengthen civic life across Spain and the Spanish-speaking world.
His work reached well beyond academia. Altamira served as a judge at the Permanent Court of International Justice and devoted much of his later life to questions of law, peace, and international cooperation. Exiled after the Spanish Civil War, he died in Mexico City in 1951, leaving behind a legacy that joins humanistic learning with public service.