[Santiago Ramón y Cajal - Neuroanatomist, Artist and Writer]

Santiago Ramón y Cajal came from North Spain and was very talented in painting and writing. Actually he wanted to become a painter but his father, who was a medical doctor himself, forced him to study medicine. In the end, he became a famous neuroanatomist, developed the neuron theory and, together with Camillo Golgi, was awarded the Nobel Price for medicine in 1906. In his career, he was very much supported by German scientists, especially by the Würzburg anatomist von Koelliker. He also displayed a lively literary activity. But most of his works are little known to us. Of his 5 "Cuentos de vacaciones" (vacation stories) there is a translation into English only since 2001.