San Antonio (Sept. 7, 2004) – “The Spain of Salvador Dali” will be the topic at noon Wednesday, Sept. 15, as The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio hosts a presentation of the Friends of the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library. The public is invited to bring lunch to the lecture, which will be on the fifth floor of the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library at the UTHSCSA Central Campus, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive. Coffee and tea will be provided.
Marcos A. Zuazu, M.D., associate professor of anesthesiology at the Health Science Center, will present the life and times of Dali and colorful images of Dali’s home region, Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the cultural capital. His lecture is in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Week at the Health Science Center and the debut of a new Dali exhibit at the library.
“As a Spaniard and a Dali lover, I want to talk about what I admire about the man, his work and his friends,” Dr. Zuazu said. “This is the centennial of Dali’s birth in 1904. I will offer an admirer’s view but not an art lecture per se, because I don’t think I am qualified to do that.”
The P.I. Nixon Library, the historical collection of the Health Science Center, includes rare and historic books in the health sciences, and manuscripts, photographs and other materials relating to the history of the health sciences in South Texas. Holdings date from the 16th century and include 4,892 titles, 261 bound serials and 2,000 photographs.
Pat Ireland Nixon, M.D., (1883-1965) was a general practitioner who saw patients in San Antonio for 50 years. As the longtime director of the Bexar County Medical Library, he acquired a large number of rare books. The Bexar County Medical Society donated this collection to the Health Science Center in 1970. The collection contains many classics in the history of medicine, including works by Albinus, Vesalius, Avicenna, Celsus, Galen, Mascagni, Withering, and John and William Hunter. It is particularly strong in the areas of anatomy, surgery and ophthalmology.