PARES | Spanish Archives

Identification

Type:

Person

Preferred form:

Aldea Vaquero, Quintín (1920-2012)

Fechas de existencia:

Gema (Zamora) 1920-03-07 - Salamanca (España) 2012-01-30

History:

Spanish historian and Jesuit priest. He was Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the Comillas Pontifical University and at the Complutense University of Madrid, researcher of CSIC, director of the Instituto Enrique Flórez de Historia de la Iglesia and head editor of the magazine Hispania Sacra. He was an expert on Church History and International Relations. Quintín was born in Gema (Zamora) on 3rd March 1920. He studied Philosophy and Theology in Belgium, Spain, and Ireland. In this last country, he was ordained priest in 1951. Since then, he devoted himself to history and he started his academic education at the Sorbonne University and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained his PhD in Church History. In addition, he studied in Munich, where he was the apprentice of Franz Schnabel and Romano Guardini and he also studied in Brussels, where he collaborated with the group of Bollandist historians. In 1958, he settled permanently in Spain and after obtaining his PhD at the Complutense University of Madrid, he held the chair for Modern and Contemporary History for eight years at the Comillas Pontifical University. In 1965, he joined the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) as a researcher, he alternated this role and his teaching position at the Complutense University. He is considered a historian of high prestige in his field. He was author of numerous scientific works, among them we can mention reference works such as the four volumes of the Diccionario de Historia Eclesiástica de España (1972-1975; 1987) in cooperation with Tomás Marín and José Vives; La Iglesia del siglo XX en España, Portugal y América Latina (1987) and la obra España y Europa en el siglo XVII: correspondencia de Saavedra Fajardo (2008). He was elected History academic in 1996 and appointed Permanent Librarian of the institution as well as coordinator of the Diccionario Biográfico Español. He died in Salamanca on 30th January 2012.