The Ateneo de Madrid (“Athenæum of Madrid”) is a private cultural institution located in the capital of Spain that was founded in 1835. Its full name is Ateneo Científico, Literario y Artístico de Madrid (“Scientific, Literary and Artistic Athenæum of Madrid”).

 

The political, social and cultural turbulence that took place between 1808 and 1814 when the Napoleonic invasion took place was accompanied by a political change – the Constitution of Cadiz of 1812 – through which the absolute monarchy was replaced by a constitutional monarchy, through which the people were guaranteed a regime of liberties that turned the subject into a citizen. Fernando VII, on his return from his confinement in Valençay (France), annulled all these political conquests, reestablishing the absolute monarchy. For this reason, when the constitutional regime was imposed again in 1820, in the so-called liberal triennium, enlightened minds thought of the need to strengthen a liberal mentality in the country through debate, open discussion and the expansion of “the lights”. That was the function assigned to the Spanish Athenaeum, founded in that same year, as an initiative of Juan Manuel de los Ríos, at the request of the Sociedad Económica Matritense; the Athenaeum thus emerged as a “patriotic society” defending freedom of thought and its expression through free discussion. When in 1823, with the absolute monarchy restored again, these liberals, forced to leave the country, went to London, they founded a Spanish Athenaeum in that capital, taking advantage of the new experience to infuse it with the breath of the then-current romanticism. With this baggage they returned to Spain in 1833.

 

In 1835, under the protection of the liberal winds imposed by the then Regent, Maria Cristina of Naples, the Scientific and Literary Athenaeum was founded, to which the epithet of Artistic was later added; the founders were Ángel de Saavedra (Duque de Rivas), Salustiano Olózaga, Mesonero Romanos, Alcalá Galiano, Juan Miguel de los Ríos, Francisco Fabra and Francisco López Olavarrieta, imbued with the purest romantic-liberal spirit. Free discussion was imposed in the gatherings, which would give open and unrestricted debate the leading role in an intellectual activity that took shape in the so-called “Cacharrería”. The courses, the sections, the cycles of conferences, would complete the framework of a feverish and passionate cultural life.

 

The Ateneo has been in various locations: the Abrantes Palace, Carretas Street, Plaza del Ángel and Montera Street, until its current location at Calle del Prado 21. The modernist building, which now houses its headquarters, is the work of architects Enrique Fort and Luis Landecho. Arturo Mélida gave it artistic content with valuable neo-Greek style paintings in the Assembly Hall and the English Hall; recently restored, these spaces are an indisputable jewel. Antonio Cánovas del Castillo inaugurated this House in 1884, with a famous speech attended by the King and Queen of Spain. Very eminent men have occupied the Presidencies of the Ateneo: Laureano Figuerola, Segismundo Moret, Gumersindo de Azcárate, A. Alcalá Galiano, A. Cánovas del Castillo, M. de Unamuno, Fernando de los Ríos, Manuel Azaña, etc., having acted as catalysts for very important political and cultural activity. Six Prime Ministers, all of our Nobel Prize winners, political leaders of the Second Republic and the most renowned members of the Generation of ’98, ’14 and ’27 have passed through the Ateneo. And although the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and General Franco during the 20th century seriously affected its activity, today it remains an essential cultural reference point.