Miguel Asín Palacios (1871-1944) founding vice-president of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and famous Spanish Arabist as well as Islamologist.
He perfectly combined his scientific, teaching and management activities with his Catholic beliefs and his priestly ministry, becoming part of the CSIC's founding management team as 2nd Vice-President.
Born in Zaragoza on July 5, 1871, he studied high school at the Colegio del Salvador, of the Society of Jesus. A disciple of the prestigious Arabist Julián Ribera, founding member of the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas, he moved to Madrid to obtain his doctorate in 1896.
His doctoral thesis, which marked the subsequent direction of his studies, was published with a prologue by Menéndez y Pelayo, another founding member of the JAE whom he met around that time.
A professor at the Seminary, he obtained the chair of Arabic at the Central University on April 24, 1903, where he succeeded the also famous Catholic Arabist Francisco Codera Zaidín.
He was granted a scholarship by the JAE to study abroad and became a member of the JAE.
His scientific activity included his facet as philologist, linguist and lexicographer. His written work includes about 250 titles among books, translations, editions and articles, as well as the numerous reviews he published for the most serious and academic journals and his activity as an Arabist and Islamologist was not at odds with an objectivity with an objectivity that is not easy to find nowadays.
On March 29, 1914, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. As a promoter of scientific institutions, he participated in the foundation of the Centro de Estudios Históricos de la JAE (1910), was a member of the Junta Constructora de la Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid and founding vice-president of the CSIC.
He was also a Member of numerous foreign scientific societies such as the Hispanic Society.
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
