Part of the Reynolds-Finley Lecture Series, hosted by UAB Libraries Historical Collections

Spanish physicians constituted a crucial political force in the nineteenth century during the tumultuous process of building a liberal democracy following the War of Independence against the Napoleonic invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. Andrew Keitt’s book, A Physician in the Age of Liberal Reform, examines the life and work of one such doctor, Ildefonso Martínez y Fernández. Martínez’s brief career began during the consolidation of the liberal revolution and the drive to improve and professionalize Spanish medicine, and it ended in a devasting cholera pandemic in the wake of a political insurrection. During his short life, Martínez produced a significant body of intellectual research, made key contributions to the profession, and cultivated a deep engagement with the political struggles of the period. His impassioned endeavors highlight the efforts of Spanish physicians to mobilize medical science toward forging a new political culture for liberal Spain, and invite reflection on how medicine and politics have intersected in other times and places

Andrew Keitt, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of History at UAB. He studies the cultural and intellectual history of Spain. He is the author of Inventing the Sacred: Imposture, Inquisition, and the Boundaries of the Supernatural in Golden Age Spain, along with numerous other articles and book chapters. His recent book, A Physician in the Age of Liberal Reform: Ildefonso Martínez y Fernández and Medical Politics in Nineteenth-Century Spain was published by Louisiana State University Press in 2024.