Journal of - International Society for the History of Islamic Medicine

The Tangiers School of Medicine and its Physicians:
A Forgotten Initiative of Medical Education
Reform in Morocco (1886-1904)(x)
Francisco Javier MARTÍNEZ-ANTONIO
Instituto de Historia, CCHS-CSIC, Madrid (Spain)
Instituto de Historia, CCHS-CSIC, c/Albasanz, 26-28 28037 Madrid (Spain)
e-mail: ahsanilahiamu@gmail.com
e-mail: franciscojavier.martinez@cchs.csic.es
Summary
In 1886, the Spanish army medical officer Felipe Óvilo Canales (1850-1909) opened up a school of medicine in the Moroccan city of Tangiers. This
school was originally sponsored by the Spanish government and intended to provide a number of Spanish Franciscan priests and young upper-class Moroccans
a basic education in Western medicine. Later, with support from Sultan Hassan I, it was transformed into a training centre for Muslim military
doctors for the Moroccan army. My paper will try to present a brief perspective of the creation and teaching method of the School, as well as of its first
graduating class of physicians, in an attempt to rescue a forgotten initiative of medical education reform in Morocco.
Key Words: Spanish-Moroccan relationships, late 19th century, medical education reform, Tangiers School of Medicine, Dr. Felipe Óvilo Canales,
Moroccan physicians.
Introduction
On the 15 th June 1886, the Spanish army medical officer
Felipe Óvilo Canales (1850-1909) was appointed to a post
in the Spanish diplomatic Legation in the Moroccan port
city of Tangiers to start up what was officially designated as
a “school of medicine” 1 .
x) Institutional acknowlegments: This paper has been
written with the support of a grant from the “Juan de la
Cierva” programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science
and Innovation, ref. number JCI-2007-123-287.
This school was initially sponsored by the Spanish government
and intended to provide a number of Spanish Catholic
missionaries and those young Moroccans “who demand
it” an “elementary and practical” education in Western medicine
2 . A cherished initiative of Spain’s late 19 th century “Africanism”,
the School also owed much to the general impulse
of administrative, economic, military or educational reforms
promoted by Sultan Hassan I (1873-1894) in the country 3 .
In relation to this, from 1890 on, the School became
an institution mainly devoted to the training of physicians
for the Army and thus similar to the Schools of Military
Medicine of Cairo (Abu Zabal, 1827), Istanbul (Mekteb-i
Tıbbiye-i Adliye-i Şahane, 1827-1839) and Teheran (Dâr
al-Fonun, 1851) 4 . In this paper, I will briefly outline the
creation and teaching method of the School, as well as the
identity and trajectory of its first graduating class of physicians
in an attempt to recover a forgotten initiative of medical
education reform in late 19 th century Morocco.
OPENING, METHOD AND EVOLUTION OF
THE TANGIERS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Shortly after arriving at Tangiers, on the 3 rd September
1886, Dr. Felipe Óvilo received the teaching material, the
medical and laboratory instruments, the drugs and the furniture
he had asked the Spanish ministries of War and Foreign
Affairs for the School. With them, he set up the lecture
room and the little dispensary which his project needed 5 .
Before the end of October 1886, he had managed to install
everything in the former Girls’ School run by the Spanish
Franciscan missionaries, which served as provisional
premises for two years. The School was officially opened on
the 23 rd November and Óvilo started his classes with two
Franciscans (Anselmo González and Daniel Devesa) and a
Spanish civilian as students 6 . In a report he sent to the Min-
x) Institutional acknowlegments: This paper has been written with the support of a grant from the “Juan de la Cierva” programme of the Spanish Ministry
of Science and Innovation, ref. number JCI-2007-123-287.
80
ISHIM 2011-2012