PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Castán Tobeñas, José (1889-1969)Other forms

Dates of existence/Biographical dates:

Zaragoza (España) 1889-07-11 - Madrid (España) 1969-06-10

History:

Spanish professor. He was the son of Francisco Castán Borrás, from Zaragoza and a bank employee, and Leonor Tobeñas Álvarez, from Alcañiz. He was married to Dolores Vázquez and they were the parents of the jurist José María Castán Vázquez (born in 1922). He was awarded a degree on Law by the University of Zaragoza and he got his doctorate at the Universidad Central in Madrid.

He held the chair of Civil Law in Murcia, Barcelona and Valencia. In 1931 he was chosen dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Valencia. He outstood as an educator in Spain during the second third of the XX century and he was one of the main jurists during the Franco régime.

After the Spanish Civil War, he went back to the position of judge at the Supreme Court that he had already held in 1933. In 1945, he was designated president of such Court and he was awarded a Doctorate honoris causa by the University of Puerto Rico in 1956. Furthermore, among other positions and honors, he was also a procurator in the Spanish parliament and he was a member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, which he got to be the president of.