COMUNICATION

The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Council of Badajoz are organising the course “Elio Antonio de Nebrija: From Extremadura to America”, which will be held from 27 to 29 July in Guadalupe, The course is part of the training programme Campus Yuste and joins the commemorative activities that have been celebrated on the occasion of the 5^th centenary of the death of Elio Antonio de Nebrija and are sponsored by the provincial institution. (06/07/2022)

The course was presented this morning at a press conference by the director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno and the Culture and Sports county council member of the Council of Badajoz, Francisco Martos.

The director of Yuste Foundation pointed out that when they received the invitation of the Council of Badajoz to participate in this fifth centenary with the organisation of this course, he ended up accepting due to three reasons. On the one hand, due to the “outstanding figure” that Nebrija was, which “has really forged the reason and the way of being of present-day Spain”.

The fact that this humanist character was a contemporary of Charles V, the emperor who spent the last 19 months of his life at the Foundation’s headquarters, has also been considered. Finally, as Moreno pointed out, the most powerful reason for hosting this course is the fact that Nebrija forged “a grammar that united two continents and numerous countries and he did it with his Spanish grammar”.

In turn, Francisco Martos pointed in the wake of the multiple events and activities that converge in this year 2022 around Elio Antonio de Nebrija and the fifth centenary of his death, at different levels and in different places and forums, that Yuste Foundation and the University of Extremadura “will undoubtedly make invaluable contributions, as befits institutions whose intellectual discourse is based on scientific knowledge, intellectual and academic rigor and, of course, in the desire to broaden the field of research of all that is given to us to learn”.

The provincial council member recalled that it was in Zalamea de la Serena where Nebrija wrote the first grammar “of this venerable and vigorous Castilian language, the language that we share with almost 600 million people around the world today and that we share equally, through time and space, with those who made beauty and thought matter of it”.

He, therefore, thanked the celebration of this course which, as he said, “will delve into the work of Nebrija in relation to his presence in Extremadura for twenty years and his influence in American soil”.

As this is a year when different congresses and symposia on Antonio de Nebrija are scheduled, this course focuses on two essential aspects of his life and work: on the one hand, the presence of the master de Lebrija in Extremadura at the service of D. Juan de Zúñiga, with an analysis of the scientific and literary work he produced during those twenty years (1483-1504). On the other hand, the reception of the work of Nebrija in American soil and its influence on the making of grammars, dictionaries, etc. of the languages of America.

This course is directed by the Professor Emeritus of the University of Extremadura and its former rector, César Chaparro, and by the Director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno. Among the academics and experts who will participate are Esther Hernández, from the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC); María Luisa Calero, from the University of Córdoba; Ascensión Hernández, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico; Teresa Jiménez, University of Alcalá; Lola Pons, University of Seville; José María Maestre, University of Cadiz; Nataly Cancino, University of Playa (Chile), Manuel Galeote, University of Málaga; María Luisa Calero, University of Cordoba; Eustaquio Sánchez Salor, Manuel Mañas and Antonio Salvador, from the University of Extremadura, and Pedro Martín Baños, from the IES Carolina Coronado of Almendralejo.

The registration period remains open, thus, those interested in participating in person can register via: https://eventos.unex.es/842/detail/elio-antonio-de-nebrija-de-extremadura-a-america.html; and those who want to register online can do so via: https://app.livestorm.co/fundacion-yuste/elio-antonio-de-nebrija-de-extremadura-a-america?type=detailed

This course, which is part of the International Summer Courses of the University of Extremadura and is held within the activities of the 2022 Holy Year of Guadalupe, counts with the collaboration of the Town Council of Guadalupe, the Provincial Council of Cáceres, the Ministry of Culture and the Franciscan Community.

ABOUT ELIO ANTONIO DE NEBRIJA

Elio Antonio de Nebrija was a Spanish humanist who occupied a prominent place in the history of the Spanish language since he was the author of the first Spanish grammar, which was published in 1492. He was also a historian, a pedagogue, a grammarian, a translator, an exegete, a teacher, a professor, a philologist, a linguist, a lexicographer, a printer, an editor (of his own works and others), a royal chronicler, a writer and a poet.

Nebrija lived in Extremadura for almost 20 years. The commemoration of the 5^th Centenary of the death of Elio Antonio de Nebrija aims to spread his figure as a humanist concept of the Renaissance, offering a global vision and academic excellence that is an example for the new generations.

CAMPUS YUSTE

This training programme of Yuste Foundation aims to hold specialised courses and meetings from a multidisciplinary point of view. These events aim at fostering debate and reflection among university students, researchers and professionals on the process of European construction and integration, as well as current European issues, and other topics related to the history and memory of Europe and Latin America, or the founding objectives of the foundation.

Each year, the courses are held in unique locations, such as the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Yuste and the Royal Monastery of Guadalupe, which facilitates contact and exchange of knowledge between students and speakers who will share reflections with experts in the field and personalities of the first academic, political or social level, being, in short, a space for reflection, thought, culture and science.