Aurora Egido Named Doctor Honoris Causa by UC3M

The philologist Aurora Egido, professor emeritus of Spanish Literature of the University of  Zaragoza and member of the Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Española), holding seat B, was named Doctor Honoris Causa of the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) during the university’s opening ceremony for the 2016-2017 academic year. This honorific title was awarded in recognition of her work as a teacher and researcher in the field of Spanish Literature, in particular Golden Age Literature, and of her entire academic career.

During the ceremony of investiture, the chancellor of UC3M, Juan Romo, presented Professor Egido with the attributes that symbolize this award: the mortarboard, the ring, the white gloves, the Book of Science, (el Libro de la Ciencia) and the doctor’s medal.

The laudatio for this prestigious philologist was presented by the professor of Spanish Language, María Victoria Pavón, of UC3M’s department of Humanities: Philosophy, Language and Literature, who stated that “her detailed, thorough work, her wisdom and her capacity for understanding and criticism have established her as one of the greatest specialists in Spanish Golden Age literature,” and pointed out that “Doctor Egido’s works have illuminated our knowledge, not only of literature, but also, through it, of the thought and language of this century.”

For her part, Aurora Egido expressed her gratitude for “the generous defense that Doctor María Victoria Pavón has made of my works and my days, which imbues me with gratitude that will be difficult to express, which I hope will be materialized in a permanent debt of alliance that I owe this university.”

Aurora Egido, born in Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara) in 1946, received a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in Spanish Philology from the Universidad de Barcelona. In 2008 she received the Ramón Menéndez Pidal National Prize for the Humanities and she has been a professor at the Universities of Barcelona, Autónoma de Barcelona and de León, as well as in the British Universities of Cardiff, London (Westfield College) and Cambridge, and in the American Universities of California (UCLA), Johns Hopkins and of Nueva York. For four courses, she was the vice-chancellor of Humanities and Courses for Foreigners at the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, and since 2013 she has been a member of the British Academy.

She is Honorary President of the International Association of Hispanists, of the International Golden Age Association (Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro), of the Spanish Symbolism Association (Asociación Española de Emblemática) and an honorary member of the Cervantists Association (Asociación de Cervantistas). She is also a member of a variety of Academies and councils. A large part of her research is focused on the work of Baltasar Gracián, and is collected in numerous books.

Egido has been distinguished with Les Palmes Académiques of the French Education Ministry, the Baltasar Gracián Award of the Government of Aragón, the medal of las Cortes de Aragón, the Sabina de Oro Award and the Gold Medal of Zaragoza.

On August 24, 2015, the city government of her hometown offered her a public tribute and named the municipal library of Molina de Aragón for her.

Further information:

Web page Honoris Causa of UC3M