Precision in historical quotations. Reply

Dear Editor:

We express our sincere thanks for the very judicious comments made in response to our recent article in Neurología.¹ Our purpose in writing the article was to shed light on a lesser-known moment in the history of Neurology: the activities of the first Catalan societies of neurology, the first of which was founded by Dr Artur Galcerán i Granés in 1911, under the name of Sociedad de Psiquiatría y Neurología de Barcelona.² As stated in our article, Dr Martí i Julià (1860–1917) succeeded him as president in 1915. In 1934, the Society adopted a Catalan name, Societat Catalana de Psiquiatria i Neurologia; its president at the time was Dr Belarmino Rodríguez Arias. That society was dissolved during the Spanish Civil War. In 1941, the society was reinstated under the Spanish name Asociación de Neurología y Psiquiatría, with Dr José Córdoba Rodríguez as its president. In 1968, it became Asociación de Ciencias Neurológicas under the presidency of Dr Lluís Barraquer Bordas. It was not until 1973 that it adopted its current Catalan name: Societat Catalana de Neurologia. Its first president was Dr Agustí Codina Puiggròs. As might be expected due to the proximity to France, the first Catalan neurological societies were influenced considerably by the French school of neurology.^1–3

We believe that adding precise details to the scarce historical record of the early days of Spanish neurology is an important endeavour. On that note, we close with the very true and relevant words of the 17th century historian Cabrera de Córdoba: “He who closely examines the history of ancient times, and is mindful of its lessons, will gain insight for future events; for the ways of the world are unchanging.”