Person
Albareda Herrera, José María (1902-1966)Other forms
Caspe (Zaragoza, España) 1902 - Madrid (España) 1966
Priest, professor, naturalist, pharmacist, scientist, and Spanish academic.
He was born in Caspe (Zaragoza) in 1902, the son of Teodoro Albareda, a native of Caspe, and Pilar Herrera, a native of Calanda (Teruel). He graduated in Pharmacy from the Central University of Madrid in 1922 and then studied Chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences in Zaragoza (1922-1925).
In 1940, he obtained the chair of Mineralogy and Zoology (which became Geology in 1944) at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Central University of Madrid through public examination. In 1942, he founded the Institute of Edaphology, Ecology, and Plant Physiology of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), of which he was the first director; he was also its first Secretary General.
A prominent member of the Opus Dei, he was the first Rector of the University of Navarra (1960-1966).He was a member of the Academies of Pharmacy, Exact Sciences, Physical and Natural Sciences, and Medicine. He passed away in Madrid in 1966.