El Real Seminario Científico e Industrial de Vergara, 1850-1860

Laburpena

The so called Real Seminario Científico e Industrial de Vergara was conceived in 1848 by a group of deputies and senators from the Basque provinces. From the so called Real Seminario de Nobles the plan to create a centre that promoted the study of science and the industrial development was submitted to the Government for approval. The following educational institutions, a secondary education school, the Escuela Especial de Matemáticas (Mathematics Special School), an Escuela de Comercio (Business School) and the Escuela Industrial (Industrial Engineering School) belonged to the above mentioned Royal Scientific and Industrial Seminar. The secondary school was similar to the ones that emerged across the country, and the Escuela de Matemáticas and the Escuela Industrial were the two most remarkable institutions of the Seminar from 1849/50 until 1860. The former started to stand out once professor Losada was appointed catedrático of the subject-matter Ampliación de Matemáticas, and the latter, which was the first Engineering School in the Basque provinces, was very well equipped with both material and human resources. In this paper we have tried to analyze in depth the institution as a kind of educational model, putting special emphasis on the study of its scientific curricula, which has been done by analyzing the relevant information contained in documents kept in different archives.