The Elements of Dermatology: The Legacy of Covisa and Bejarano

In 1936, Covisa and Bejarano published a treatise entitled Elementos de Dermatología (The Elements of Dermatology). In this surprisingly modern book they abandoned the nosological debates characteristic of the 19th century and instead classified diseases according to their etiology and pathogenesis based on the scientific and technical advances of the time. Moreover, unlike other books available at the time, which were essentially adaptations of foreign texts, this was the first medical work to reflect the reality of Spanish medicine.However, the future of both the book and its authors was to be determined by the start of the Spanish Civil War in the same year. Covisa and Bejarano, who were both extremely active in the public health system and medical education during the Second Republic, were obliged to seek exile in America. Due to the difficulties of the time, very few copies of the book reached the public and no new editions were ever printed. We will never know what would have happened if the war had not started, but we believe that this important work should be remembered.

ResumenEn 1936 Covisa y Bejarano publicaron su tratado titulado Elementos de Dermatología. El libro destacaba por su modernidad, al dejar atrás los debates nosológicos que caracterizaban a la Dermatología del siglo anterior, y al agrupar las enfermedades por su etiología y patogenia, apoyándose en los avances científicos y técnicos de la época. Era también el primer texto adaptado a la realidad española, y no una simple adaptación de un texto extranjero.Sin embargo, la Guerra Civil iniciada ese mismo año determinó el futuro de los autores y del propio libro. Covisa y Bejarano tuvieron una intensa participación en la administración sanitaria y universitaria de la Segunda República y se vieron obligados a exiliarse a América. El libro tuvo escasa distribución por librerías en aquel difícil momento, y tampoco se realizarían nuevas ediciones. Nunca sabremos qué habría sucedido de no haber estallado la guerra, pero creemos justo recordar esta importante obra.