Jose Echegaray

José María Waldo Echegaray y Eizaguirre (1832-1916) was a Spanish engineer, playwright, politician and mathematician, brother of the playwright Miguel Echegaray.

He was a versatile figure in Spain at the end of the XIX century, with excellent results in all areas in which he got involved. He obtained the fourth Nobel Prize for Literature in 1904, being the first Spaniard to obtain this award, and he developed several projects in the exercise of the ministerial portfolios of Finance and Development. He made important contributions to mathematics and physics. He introduced in Spain the geometry of Chasles, the Galois theory and the elliptic functions. He is considered the greatest Spanish mathematician of the XIX century. Julio Rey Pastor affirmed: «For Spanish mathematics, the 19th century begins in 1865 and begins with Echegaray». In 1911, he founded the Royal Spanish Mathematical Society.

Biography

José Echegaray was born in Madrid, Spain, on April 19, 1832. His father, José Echegaray Lacosta, was a doctor and high school teacher, from Zaragoza, and his mother, Manuela Eizaguirre Charler, from Azcoitia, Guipuzcoa. When he was 5 years old, his family moved to Murcia, for work reasons of his father, where he spent his childhood and studied for primary education. It was there, at the Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza de Murcia, where he began his interest in mathematics. "Obtaining a bachelor's degree", he moved to Madrid and after obtaining his degree at the San Isidro Institute, he entered the original Escuela de Caminos in 1848. When he was twenty, he left the Madrid School with the title of Civil Engineer, Canals and Ports, who had obtained number one in his promotion, and had to travel to Almería and Granada to join his first job. Together with Gabriel Rodríguez, he founded El Economista , a magazine in which he wrote numerous articles, thus initiating a journalistic activity that he would not abandon throughout his life. Likewise, he participated in the establishment, in April 1850, of the Association for the Reform of Tariffs and, also, he was a speaker at the Sunday conferences on the education of women (Universidad de Madrid), with the conference Influence of the study of the physical sciences in the education of women (Madrid, 1869).

In his youth he read Goethe, Homer and Balzac, readings that he alternated with those of mathematicians such as Gauss, Legendre and Lagrange.

José Echegaray maintained a great activity until his death, which occurred on September 14, 1916 in Madrid. His extensive work did not stop growing in old age: in the final stage of his life he wrote 25 or 30 volumes of Mathematical Physics. At 83 years old he commented:

I can't die, because if I have to write my elementary Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics, I need at least 25 years.

Teacher and scientist

Echegaray, portrayed by Kaulak.

In 1854 he began to teach at the School of Civil Engineers, taking charge of its secretariat. There he taught classes in mathematics, stereotomy, hydraulics, descriptive geometry, differential calculus, and physics from that year until 1868. From 1858 to 1860 he was also a professor at the School for Public Works Assistants.

Ten years later, when he was thirty-two years old, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Exact Sciences. The admission speech, entitled History of pure mathematics in our Spain, in which he made an exaggeratedly negative balance and with certain gaps, of Spanish mathematics throughout history and in which he defended "basic science" against "practical science", was the source of great controversy, as the journalists Luis Antón del Olmet and Arturo García Carraffa indicate in their book Echegaray:

And as the speech was rough, crude and even aggressive, it produced, despite the congratulations and praises of rubric, a terrible effect on some centers and collectivities... Many newspapers fought his speech. The revolutionaries attacked his liberal tendencies; the liberals accused him of mistreating Spanish Science and the polemic was rude because D. José answered everyone in the same tone he had used in his speech.

José Echegaray died on September 14, 1916 in his hometown.

Scientific work

In his career as a scientist and teacher he published many works on physics and mathematics. Some of them, published in his first stage, are the following (although Echegaray was writing until the end of his days):

• Variance calculation (1858), which was almost unknown in Spain (Benito Bails had already introduced it at least in the century XVIII).
• Problems of flat geometry (Madrid, Bailly-Baillere, 1865).
• Analytical geometry problems in two dimensions (1865), qualified as masterpiece by Zoel García de Galdeano.
• The History of Pure Mathematics in Spain (1866)
• Modern theories of physics. Unit of material forces, 3 vols. (1867, 1883 and 1889), some with more than one edition.
• Introduction to superior geometry (1867), exposing the geometry of Michel Chasles and starting point for the work of Eduardo Torroja.
• Memory on the theory of determinants (1868), first work in Spain on the subject, version of the work of Nicola Trudi (1862).
• “Application of the Determinants” (1869), in Revista de los Progresos de las Ciencias Exactas, Physics y Naturales, XVIII. 312-333. He addressed the issue of “Resolution of a Linear Equations System”, introducing what is now called Cramer’s rule.
• Thermodynamic treatise (1868), brief essay on a science that was born then.
• Mathematical Theory of Light (1871)
• Resolution of equations and theory of Galois: lessons explained in the Ateneo of Madrid (Madrid, J.A. García, 1897-1898 and 1902), 2 vols.
• Observations and theories on chemical affinity (1901).
• Popular Science; Scientific Vulgarization (1905)
• Lectures on Mathematical Physics10 vols. 1 per academic year

Engineering:

• Memory on the drilling of the Alps tunnel (1860).

In politics

José Echegaray at the end of his days

After the Revolution of 1868 and the arrival of Prim in Madrid, Ruiz Zorrilla, with whom he had actively participated in the founding of the Radical Party, appointed Echegaray general director of Public Works, a position he would occupy until 1869, when he was appointed Minister of Public Works (1870 and 1872) and of the Treasury between 1872 and 1874. In 1870 he was part of the commission that received King Amadeo of Savoy in Cartagena. As Minister of Development, he carried out the Law on Railway Bases.

The abdication of Amadeo de Saboya on February 11, 1873 led to the dismissal of the government of Ruiz Zorrilla and the formation of a new republican cabinet that would be deposed with the entry of the army into congress in January 1874 under the command of Pavia. The coup was followed by the formation of a concentration government, which once again required the services of Echegaray as Minister of Finance, from where the Bank of Spain would be given the status of national bank with the monopoly of issuing banknotes.

He left the Ministry of Finance to dedicate himself to literature. In 1905, he returned to the Ministry of Finance during the reign of Alfonso XIII, after his republican fervor disappeared.He was also a senator for life and president of the Council of Public Instruction.

In literature

In 1865, he began his literary activity with La hija naturaleza, although he did not premiere it at that time. Then, in 1874, he wrote El libro talonario , considered the beginning of his production as a playwright, with the anagrammatic pseudonym of & # 34; Jorge Hayeseca & # 34;. He premiered 67 plays, 34 of them in verse, with great success among the public of the time, although devoid of literary value for later critics. In 1896 he was elected a member of the Royal Spanish Academy.In his early days his works were immersed in the romantic melancholy, very typical of the time, but later he acquired a more social tone with an evident influence of Norwegian Henry Ibsen.

In 1904, Echegaray shared the Nobel Prize for Literature with the Provençal poet Frédéric Mistral, thus becoming the first Spaniard to receive a Nobel Prize. The prize was awarded to him in Madrid, on March 18, 1905, by the king and the Swedish organizing commission. The award of the Nobel Prize in Literature scandalized the Spanish literary avant-garde and, in particular, the writers of the generation of '98. At that time, Echegaray was not considered an exceptional playwright and his work was harshly criticized by renowned writers such as Clarín or Emilia Pardo Bazán, although in a way that is not always consistent. In Clarín itself praiseworthy reviews can be read. He himself always maintained a distant attitude towards his works, however he had the admiration of authors such as Bernard Shaw or Pirandello. But Echegaray had great prestige in Spain at the beginning of the XX century, a prestige that reached the fields of literature, science and politics and a established fame in the Europe of his time. His works were successful in cities like London, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.

He was president of the Ateneo de Madrid (1898-1899); president of the Association of Spanish Writers and Artists during the period 1903 to 1908; member of the Royal Spanish Academy where he held the chair & # 34;e & # 34; minuscule between 1894 and 1916; senator for life (1900) and twice president of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (1894–1896 and 1901–1916); first president of the Spanish Society of Physics and Chemistry, created in 1903; Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Central University of Madrid (1905); president of the Mathematics section of the Spanish Association for the Progress of Sciences (1908); and first president of the Spanish Mathematical Society (1911). In 1907, at the proposal of Ramón y Cajal, the Academy of Sciences created the Echegaray Medal and José Echegaray was awarded the first of them.

Literary work

Theater

Other works

• Memories of my life, Pamplona: Analecta, 2016, edition of José Manuel Sánchez Ron. It is the full edition: it was published by deliveries in the magazine The Modern Spain by José Lázaro Galdiano between 1895 and 1911, and from there they were reprinted, always partially, in other periodicals as Madrid or Revista de Obras Públicas. In 1917 they appeared incomplete in three volumes, printed by Ruiz Hermanos in Madrid.
• "The photograph of the word." Artistic illustration1, 7, 1882.
• "Study on realism in science, in art in general and in literature." Anales del Teatro y de la Música. Madrid, VII-XIV. 1884
• "Mechanical determinism and moral freedom." Revista de los Progresos de las Ciencias Exactas, Physics y Naturales, XXI (1), 1- 21. 1886
• "February." In Pedro Antonio de Alarcón et al.. Months (pp. 45-59). Barcelona: Henrich and Cía. 1889
• "María-Rosa" written in Catalan by Angel Guimerá. Translated into Spanish by José Echegaray. 1895.
• "Location." The Mondays of El Impartial (21 January 1895).
• "The three elements of the drama." The Artistic Illustration, XV, 755, 422. 1896.
• Lances among gentlemen Publication at José Echegaray collaborates with annotations.(Madrid, Rivadeneyra Successors, s.a.) (1900)
• "The militant old age." Old people3-5, 30 January 1904.
• Popular science. Madrid. 1905.
• "Critical in Maths." Revista de Obras Públicas, 53, 148. 1905.
• MONOLOGS: Between pain and story; The modern Endymion; The Song of the Mermaid (1906)
• Theatrical pieces of the boy genre: "Gigantes y Cabezudos", "El duo de laafrica" and "Los Hugontes".

Speeches

• Speech in Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes (session of 5 May 1869), pp. 1633-39.
• Speeches read before the Royal Academy of Exact Sciences at the reception of D. Eduardo Saavedra on June 27, 1869. Madrid. 1869.
• Address in Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes (session of 24 January 1870), pp. 5133-44. 1870.
• Speech in Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes (session of 18 November 1872), pp. 1456-62.
• Address and rectification of Mr. Don José Echegaray delivered at the meetings of the 7th, 9th and 11th of July, 1877, on the basis of the opinion of the commission of parliamentary information concerning the operations of the Treasury. Madrid.
• Address by Mr. Echegaray. In El Ateneo de Madrid in the centenary of Calderón (pp. 205-213). Madrid. 1881.
• Addresses read before the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences at the public reception of H.E. Mr. D. Alberto Bosch and Fustegueras on March 28, 1890. Madrid. 1890
• Speeches read before the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences at the reception. del. Mr. D. Amos Salvador and Rodrigáñez., [Contestación de D. José Echegaray] Madrid. 1893.
• Speeches read before the Royal Spanish Academy at the public reception of H.E. Mr. D. José Echegaray on 20 May 1894. Madrid. 1894.
• Speeches read before the Royal Spanish Academy at the public reception of Don Eugenio Sellés on June 2, 1895. Madrid. 1895.
• Address read by His Excellency. Mr. D. José Echegaray on 10 November 1898 at the Scientific, Literary and Artistic Athenaeum in Madrid on the occasion of the opening of his chairsWhat is the force of nations?. Madrid. 1898.
• Speeches read before the Royal Spanish Academy at the public reception of D. Emilio Ferrari, on April 30, 1905. Madrid. 1905
• Speech read at the Central University at the solemn inauguration of the academic year from 1905 to 1906. Madrid. 1905.
• Address read to the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences at its public reception by Mr. D. Augusto Krahe and García, and reply by H.E. Mr. D. José Echegaray, on 13 December 1914. Madrid. 1914.

Forewords in works by other authors

• " COMBATE GREAT", D. Gaspar Núñez de Arce. Madrid, Est. Ricardo Fé's Tip, 1891.
• "LITERATURA" (PART General), Mario Méndez Bejarano
• "LARIN SIRS", Leopoldo Clarín Wings
• "MIS MEMORIAS. Forty years of comic book," Antonio Vico. 1902.
• "Electric lighting installations: practical manual", Montpellier, Jules Armand. Translated by Hidalgo de Mobellán. 1901

Movie adaptations

Of his enormous theatrical production, El gran galeoto has received the attention of universal cinema with six adaptations, while three other works by Echegaray also received their film counterpart (De mala raza, A force of crawling and Stain that cleanses) in the Spanish silent film stage. Of this set of adaptations, only El gran Galeoto by Rafael Gil can be seen; the rest are missing films of which we can only get an approximate idea based on newspaper reports and archives.

Spanish silent cinema and Echegaray

In silent cinema, Spanish cinema only paid attention to three of them: Mala raza, before his death; the next two, Mancha que limpieza by José Buchs in 1924 and By dint of dragging yourself , were posthumous adaptations.

Bad Breed

Mala raza was the first film adaptation of a work by José Echegaray, De mala raza (1904). However, putting images of this without the pertinent rights, together with the notable success achieved by the film, led the Society of Authors, on behalf of the playwright, to sue Gelabert for plagiarism, who, thanks to the intelligent work of his lawyer won the lawsuit – Echegaray obtained a pyrrhic victory when he saw how the original title was changed to Bad Race – (Pozo, 1984: 23; Porter, 1985: 49). Without being able to access the viewing of the film, it seems that the concomitances between the play and the film adaptation were more than evident.

In the literary reference, Echegaray dissociates superhuman values such as the dignity and honor of upper-class citizens for the simple fact of belonging to it by birth. Through the mouth of the character Prudencio, the transmission of the laws of inheritance from parents to children is insisted on, in such a way that everything bad or good that the ascendant did will irrevocably redound to his offspring, the "fatality" Organic & # 34; to characterize Adelina, in such a way that, at the critical moment, no evidence to the contrary will be valid to annul her fatality and the suspicions that fall on her of adultery are synonymous with bitter reality.

Two adaptations by José Buchs: Mancha que limpieza y A dierza de dragarlar

Eight years after the death of José Echegaray, Spanish cinema would adapt his work again. In 1924, Film Española, a newly created production company that would specialize in zarzuelas and melodramas, commissioned two new projects to its star director, the Cantabrian José Buchs – who had filmed the production company's first titles the previous year: Rosario la Cortijera, Curro Vargas and Poor Valbuena – to adapt two of the plays by the most successful Madrid playwright: Mancha que limpia and By dint of crawling .

With these films, Film Española intended to continue the tradition begun by French Film-Art of transposing a prestigious work into filmic language, while maintaining many of the wickerwork that characterize theater, such as the staging, sets or famous performers of the scene, with the aim of expanding the spectrum of the population that could access knowledge of the work and who could not afford to attend the theater, while simultaneously giving prestige to the cinematographic medium that needed the vehicle that would he provided the theater to make his own products famous.