The Buñuel Hall of El Almacén hosted the screening of the documentary 'Blas Cabrera: History of Physics' this Wednesday night, with a full house, an audiovisual tribute presented by the Cabildo de Lanzarote, through the Department of Education; which collects the legacy of the distinguished physicist from Lanzarote and is part of a set of actions to recover and make his memory visible at a Canarian, national and international level.
The event was attended by the Minister of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín, who stressed the importance of bringing to the public the trajectory of a man who, from a small island like Lanzarote, managed to rub shoulders with the most brilliant minds of his time, such as Einstein or Curie, and position the Canary Islands and Spain on the international scientific map.
Machín remarked that "science needs role models and Blas Cabrera was not only an exceptional physicist, he was a man who understood science as a commitment to knowledge and society. Taking this work wherever it is needed is also a way to preserve his example and to sow, in those who will come, the same passion for knowing, understanding and contributing."
For his part, the president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, pointed out that it is vital that the Canary Islands be inspired by figures such as Blas Cabrera to promote scientific vocations among our youth. He also added that "this type of cultural and informative projects strengthen the identity of the Canarian people and help us understand that science is also part of our DNA as a society."
Likewise, the island councilor of Education, Ascensión Toledo, agreed that "it is essential that the students of our islands know the magnitude of what Blas Cabrera meant, not only for Lanzarote, but for the history of modern physics in Europe."
Directed by filmmaker Raúl Jiménez and co-written with Jorge Méndez Ramos, the documentary reconstructs, with an agile and rigorous approach, the trajectory of the physicist born in Arrecife in 1878, who became president of the Royal Academy of Sciences and hosted Albert Einstein in 1923 during his visit to Spain. The film also recovers unpublished personal passages and relies on handwritten materials that remained forgotten, as well as testimonies from researchers, family members and academics.
This presentation in Lanzarote is added to a series of recent initiatives aimed at recovering Cabrera's memory and the project has had the support of the CSIC, the University of La Laguna, the Juan Negrín Foundation and the Government of the Canary Islands. In addition, it has been previously screened at the Teatro Leal in La Laguna, where it received the support of the scientific and university community. It has also been part of the Starmus 2025 festival in La Palma, within the event 'Discovering Blas Cabrera', which reinforces its international dimension.
The audience, among whom were representatives of the academic world, teachers, students and the general public, applauded the screening, visibly moved by the recognition of a figure who, as Councilor Migdalia Machín pointed out, "is still alive in every step that science takes in the Canary Islands."
