Commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation

This Foundation was created by Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons in 1971.
This Foundation was created by Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons in 1971.
(22/11/2011)

The Agustí Pedro i Pons University Foundation will celebrate its 40th anniversary in a special event to be held at 12 p.m. on Tuesday 22 November in the Aula Magna of the UBʼs Faculty of Medicine (Casanova, 143). During the event addresses will be made by the rector of the UB and president of the Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation, Dídac Ramírez, and the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Francesc Cardellach. There will also be two talks, “Agustí Pedro i Pons, lʼhome i lʼobra”, to be given by Màrius Foz, and “Reflexions entorn de la figura de Pedro i Pons”, by Joan Guinovart.

This Foundation was created by Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons in 1971.
This Foundation was created by Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons in 1971.
22/11/2011

The Agustí Pedro i Pons University Foundation will celebrate its 40th anniversary in a special event to be held at 12 p.m. on Tuesday 22 November in the Aula Magna of the UBʼs Faculty of Medicine (Casanova, 143). During the event addresses will be made by the rector of the UB and president of the Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation, Dídac Ramírez, and the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Francesc Cardellach. There will also be two talks, “Agustí Pedro i Pons, lʼhome i lʼobra”, to be given by Màrius Foz, and “Reflexions entorn de la figura de Pedro i Pons”, by Joan Guinovart.

 
As part of the anniversary celebrations, a concert in tribute to Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons will be held on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Conservatori del Liceu (Nou de la Rambla, 88). The concert will feature young musicians representing each department of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu - Laura Erra (viola), Anna Villaescusa (piano), Rebeca Myar (piano), Sara Almohalla (piano) and Carmen Mateo (soprano) - who will perform a selection of pieces from different genres and periods, from the Baroque and Romantic to the 20th century, including work by Scarlatti, Schubert, Arutiunan, Babajanyan and H. Villa-Lobos. Admission is free and places are limited.
 
The Agustí Pedro i Pons University Foundation was founded in 1971 by Dr. Agustí Pedro i Pons, dean of the Faculty of Medicine over the period 1954-1957, the founder and president of numerous medical institutions and a leading figure in the promotion of science and culture. In his last will and testament, Dr. Pedro i Pons indicated his desire to establish a legacy through the Foundation, for which purpose he donated a substantial collection of furniture and decorative items from his home on the Avinguda de Vallvidrera and a valuable real estate portfolio, which have enabled the Foundation to offer a series of annual scholarships and bursaries to recent graduates, to support further study or research.
 
The Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation is an educational and charitable organization that provides scholarships and bursaries for recent graduates in medicine, pharmacy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, philology, philosophy, education, psychology, geography and history. Grants are also provided to support further study in music, composition and singing, in this case to graduates of the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona and the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu.
 
Over the 40 years since it was created, the Pedro i Pons Foundation has awarded scholarships and bursaries with a total value of 1,844,215.93 euros for research and further study in medicine (795,174.09 euros), pharmacy (173,310.71), science (232,944.93), the arts (231,429.91) and music (411,356.29).
 
Agustí Pedro i Pons, a leading figure in the promotion of science and culture
Agustí Pedro i Pons (1898-1971) graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of Barcelona in 1919 and obtained his PhD in medicine in 1925 for a thesis on Bantiʼs disease and spleno-hepatic syndromes. In 1927 he was appointed professor of clinical medicine at the UBʼs Faculty of Medicine, where he would go on to become dean in 1954. He was actively committed to teaching and was one of the most influential lecturers in contemporary Catalan medicine. Outside the UB, he was also president of the Academic of Medical Sciences of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands (1939-1958) and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Barcelona (1957-1971).
 
Dr. Pedro i Pons founded and directed the journals Medicina Clínica and Revista Española de Reumatismo y Enfermedades Osteoarticulares. His most important work is the six-volume Tratado de Patología y Clínica Médicas, which presents the data from 48 doctoral theses and became a fundamental manual on pathology and clinical practice.
 
Dr. Pedro i Pons made a major contribution to clinical practice. His concern for quality reached beyond the hospital walls and made him a renowned consultant physician over many years, with patients benefitting from his expertise through referrals from colleagues in the profession. He was also involved in many social and civic projects and activities, in particular through work to support the Romea Theatre and the celebration of the Jocs Florals in Barcelona.
 
As a lecturer, Dr. Pedro i Ponsʼs vocational commitment to university education made him a generous teacher. In his will, he donated the largest proportion of his personal wealth to the UB foundation that bears his name.
 
Dr. Pedro i Pons was a pioneer in the promotion of science and culture and was strongly committed to seeking a better future for all through the funding of research projects and quality academic study - work which forms the mission of the Agustí Pedro i Pons Foundation to this day.
 
Further information (in Spanish and Catalan only) can be found on the Foundationʼs websitewww.fpedroipons.org.