Person
Muñoz Romero, Tomás (1814-1867)Other forms
Alcalá de Henares (Madrid, España) 1814 - Madrid (España) 1867-10-17
Tomás Muñoz Romero was a Spanish archivist. He was the first Director of the Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN; National Historical Archive). From his position in the Real Academia de la Historia (Royal Academy of History, he helped in the creation of the AHN. Born in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), he studied at the Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso in his hometown. He studied higher education at the Central University of Madrid, where he graduated in Law. In 1844 he joined the Royal Academy of History as an officer of its library and archive. As such, he took care of the installation in the headquarters of the Academy and of the description and of the documentation coming from the recent ecclesiastical confiscation. In 1856 he was appointed Professor of Paleography at the Diplomatic School of Madrid. He also joined the Corps of Archives and Libraries created in 1857, and whose work took form, in the Royal Decree of 17 July 1858, from the Ministry of Development, from the creation of the General Central Archive of Alcalá de Henares, and from the Corps of State Archivists and Librarians. When he was appointed Professor, he resigned from his position in the Academy but remained linked to it, since he became Academic Member in 1859. From this position he remained engaged with the description of the documentary collections of disentailed convents and monasteries, which were deposited at the Academy headquarters but were state-owned and, therefore, responsibility of the Ministry of Development. The differences that arose between the Academy and the Ministry in the control of the disentailed documents were definitively resolved thanks to the creation of the Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN; National Historical Archive) in 1866 and to the appointment of Tomás Muñoz y Romero as Royal Commissioner of the new Archive. He died suddenly in Madrid when he was 53 years old.
Description: Fue subteniente de la Milicia Nacional designado por la Diputación Provincial de Madrid
PARES: Caja AGA 31/06539 (Expediente 22): Expediente personal de Tomás Muñoz y Romero.
Torreblanca López, Agustín. Noticia de los Directores del Archivo Histórico Nacional (1866-1953). [Copia digital]. Madrid : Asociación Nacional de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios, Arqueólogos y Documentalistas, 1978-. XLVI (1996), n. 1 ; p. 33-62.
DB-e: Diccionario Biográfico RAH: Biografía de Tomás Muñoz Romero/ Luis Miguel de la Cruz Herranz