The Unit of Scientific Culture of the University of Salamanca has found, while preparing an exhibition for 2026, a handwritten note that, according to researchers, confirms the epistolary relationship between the Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno and the British novelist HG wells.
The note, presented this Thursday to the media at the Unamuno house of Salamanca, consists of two white paper furies, is written by hand in English and contains a personal invitation from Wells to the Spanish philosopher for dinner at his residence in London on Friday, February 28, 1936 and then attending together the projection of the movie ‘The future life’, which was based on one of his works and whose script was his script.
“We suggest that between both writers there was probably a more or less fluid and sustained communication in time, which unfortunately has not come complete,” said researcher Marta García.
The Unamuno house-museum team has verified that, in addition to the exchange of correspondence between both intellectuals, books were sent, as confirmed by a letter from the personal secretary of the British novelist.
“This finding shows us the most human perspective of Unamuno and the consideration that aroused in the highest European cultural figures. It is a discovery that keeps it more alive and shows it more current, ”said Garcia about the perpetual rector of the University of Salamanca (Usal).
Was it unamuno to the appointment with Wells?
Wells invited Unamuno to have dinner at his home that Friday, February 28, 1936, taking advantage of the fact that the Spanish writer was in London to receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Oxford.
In that call later included the proposal to watch the film with Baroness Budberg, Russian writer, already William Ralph Inge, British theologian and philosopher, at the Leicester Square Theater.
“It was unusual for a person of that relevance to send a handwritten note to someone. That was because there was already a previous relationship and believed that I was going to go, and more in the company of such outstanding people, ”said the director of the Digital Production and Innovation Service of the Usal, Raúl Rivas.
The researchers have not found direct records confirming the assistance of UNAMUNO to the meeting, but they ensure that “there are indications that she went”, as a poem written by the Spanish intellectual when saying goodbye to London that contains references related to the theme of the film, or an article of ‘The Sun’ in which the invitation to the cinema is mentioned by implying that the writer was.
UNAMUNO AND THE INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL COMMUNITY
In 1924, Wells wrote an article in the London press in which he showed his support for Unamuno after his banishment, with the title ‘The Unamuno Case’; and in which he referred to the Spanish intellectual as “great writer and professor, former rector of the University of Salamanca and man of undisputed preeminence.”
The researchers emphasize that all these “signs” of the relationship between Unamuno and Wells expand knowledge about the vast network of Spanish contacts with intellectuals around the world and reaffirm their interest in scientific and technological advancement, as well as their involvement in the great debates of the twentieth century.
The handwritten note and the rest of the “treasures” that the teams are collecting can be observed closely in the exhibition planned by 2026 about the relationship between Unamuno and science.
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