Pedro González de Velasco (22 October 181521 October 1882) was a Spanish medical doctor, anthropologist, and founder of the Madrid's Museo Nacional de Antropología.
Biography Early life and education Pedro González de Velasco was born in Valseca, Segovia, Spain on 22 October 1815. His surname, Velasco, is of Basque origin.
He began his early studies of Latin at the Seminary of Segovia, later studying philosophy in Ávila during the Ominous Decade.Escenas contemporáneas: Historia de las Córtes y biografías de los senadores y diputados : Revista politica, literaria y de ciencias, artes, comercio, agricultura y teatros. Biografía del doctor don Pedro González Velasco. (1868). Spain: Imprenta de Antonio Peñuelas.
He took up arms as a volunteer to support the Liberals and Queen Isabella II of Spain against the Carlists in the First Carlist War. On 18 October 1837 he entered Madrid and assumed an intern position at the Hospital de Santa Isabel in the city. In 1840, he began eleven years of medical studies. He completed three years as a surgeon, six as a medical surgeon, and two as a doctor, receiving his degree on 21 May 1864.La Independencia Medica: Revista de Medicina y de Farmacia. (1874). Spain: (n.p.).
In July 1861, he was elected as an associate fellow to the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.Charter, Ordinances and By-laws of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. (1851). United States: T.K. and P.G. Collins.
Anthropological Society of Madrid Velasco founded the Anthropological Society of Madrid () in Spain. On 6 November 1864, a meeting at his Calle de Atocha home appointed an organizing committee, which officially founded the Society on 14 May 1865. A royal order legally established the society on 16 May.Francisco de Asis Delgado Jugo. (1866). Spanish Anthropological Society: Translation of the Secretary’s Address. The Anthropological Review, 4(14), 259–266. https://doi.org/10.2307/3025088
National Museum of Anthropology In 1875, Velasco founded Spain's first museum of anthropology, the National Museum of Anthropology () in Madrid. The museum housed Dr. Velasco's private collection which included exhibits of anatomy, botany, physical anthropology, and antiquities.European Review of Native American Studies. (1992). Austria: Pallas Lap- és Könyvkiadó Vállalat. He remained the director until his death.The Naturalists' Universal Directory. (1882). United States: Cassino Press.
Death Pedro González de Velasco died in Madrid, Spain on 21 October 1882.
Further reading In 1894, after his death, Ángel Pulido, who was influenced by his scientific work, published a biography of the Segovian physician.Paloma Díaz-Mas, “Sephardi Women in Ángel Pulido’s Correspondence,” in “Genealogies of Sepharad (‘Jewish Spain’),” eds. Daniela Flesler, Michal R. Friedman and Asher Salah, Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History. Journal of the Fondazione CDEC 18 (December 2020), DOI: 10.48248/issn.2037-741X/10892
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