Foreign expertise, political pragmatism and professional elite: The Rockefeller Foundation in Spain, 1919–39

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A Spanish Elite Looking for Changes

The turn of the century in Spain was a time of lively discussions over the changes needed to confront the challenges of a fast-moving world (no less than the ‘regeneration’ of the nation seemed to be at stake).2 The nineteenth century ended with no resolution

Mutual Recognition of Partners

The agreement reached in 1922 with the International Health Board of the Rockefeller Foundation represented a decisive international commitment in the area of public health. From the American side, it was a further step in the establishment of its world leadership. Its participation in World War I had given considerable political prominence to the USA, which cast its shadow on many aspects of daily life. For example, in February 1919, the illustrated weekly Blanco y Negro published a series of

Identifying Evils, Programming Needs

The agreement reached during Rose's stay in Spain was approved by the International Health Board on May 23, 1922, at the official request of the Spanish government.29 Two types of actions were contemplated: sending technical personnel to Spain; and providing fellowships for postgraduate training in public health for Spanish candidates. The mission of the American representative in Spain, to survey

Enhancing Professional Competence

The fellowship programme began before Bailey's arrival, in response to a request made by Castillejo. As we have seen before, it responded to an urgent need. The programme was suspended for one year after the military coup, but 21 persons were awarded fellowships between 1925 and 1930, and 20 more between 1931 and 1936 (see Table 1).

Fellowships were awarded according to the plan designed by Bailey in 1926. During the first six-year period, the IHD would work to bolster the central public health

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the DGICYT through Project no. PB94–0813–C03–1. David Castillejo kindly provided documents from the Castillejo archives, and Jorge Molero allowed me to consult his unpublished paper read at the ‘VI Jornadas Marcelino Pascua’ (Madrid, June 1997). I thank Teresa Ortiz and Rosa Medina for their helpful comments, and Karen Shashok and Richard Davies for their assistance with the translation.

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