This commemorative plaque, located in the corridors of the Facultade de Medicina e Odontoloxía at the University of Santiago de Compostela, pays tribute to the doctors who served during the Spanish flu. The homage is articulated through the figure of Dr. Narciso Carrero Goyanes, Professor of Legal Medicine, who died in November 1918 after being infected by his patients.
The magnitude of the tragedy in the city is reflected in the testimony of Juan José Barcia Goyanes (1901-2003), former professor of Anatomy, who was in Santiago in 1918 about to begin his medical studies:
“Authorities decided to close educational institutions to prevent further contagion, and the Faculty did not reopen until after Epiphany… You could see funeral processions and horse-drawn carriages passing by 30 to 40 times in a single day, and this in a small city like Santiago, which did not even reach 40,000 inhabitants.”1
The plaque was commissioned by the City Council of Santiago at the initiative of the banker and lawyer D. Homobono González. It is arranged vertically and designed in a classical architectural style that frames the commemorative inscription. It has a coat of arms in the center and another on the pedestal of the right column, which probably once had a matching one on the left, now lost. The work is signed in the lower left corner by the sculptor Francisco Asorey and dated 19202. The inscription reads:
HOMENAJE DE GRATITUD / Y ADMIRACIÓN / A LOS MÉDICOS QUE DURANTE / LA EPIDEMIA GRIPAL DE 1918 / PRESTARON ABNEGADOS SERVICIOS / EN LA CIUDAD COMPOSTELANA / AL DR. NARCISO CARRERO GOYANES, / FALLECIDO EN EL CUMPLIMIENTO / DE HUMANITARIO DEBER / EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE SANTIAGO POR / ACUERDO DE 11 DE DICIEMBRE DE 1918.
Tribute of gratitude / and admiration to the doctors who during / the influenza epidemic of 1918 / rendered selfless service / in the city of Santiago / To Dr. Narciso Carrero Goyanes, / who died in the fulfillment / of his humanitarian duty / The City Council of Santiago by / agreement of 11 December 1918.
- Photos and main text by Sabela Nóvoa Gómez moc.liamg|im9211ebas#| (December 2025)
- Locate the item on this Google Map
Sitography
- Virtual Museum of the University of Santiago de Compostela (february 2026)
Bibliography:
- Churruca, S. (2000, January 18). Entrevista con J. J. Barcia Goyanes. Diario Médico.
- Simón Lorda, D. (2001). La epidemia gripal de 1918 en Ourense. Minius: Revista do Departamento de Historia, Arte e Xeografía, (9), 85–96.