In 1988, the illustrious professor of physics Nicolás Cabrera Sánchez, the youngest son of Blas Cabrera Felipe, seeing that his life was coming to an end (he died in 1989), gave me, in the presence of his daughter, Carmen Cabrera Navarro, his father's "papers" in exile so that they would not be lost, to preserve them, and, as far as possible, to make them known to Spanish society in exhibitions and publications, as I did in 1988, 1995, etc.
Now, 34 years later, a dispute has broken out between the grandchildren of Blas Cabrera in relation to the "papers" of the father of modern physics in Spain. Indeed, at the beginning of this year 2022 I received separately two letters, respectively, from Luis Cabrera Pérez (grandson of Luis Cabrera Sánchez), and from Carmen Cabrera Navarro (granddaughter of Nicolás Cabrera Sánchez, on behalf of her siblings Blas and Cristina Cabrera Navarro and her cousin Mª Concepción Cabrera Muedra, daughter of Blas Cabrera Sánchez), demanding the former that said "papers" be sent to Tenerife, requesting the latter that they be sent to Madrid.
On June 24, I met with the Dean of the Faculty of Physics of the Complutense University of Madrid, the center in which Don Blas developed his entire university life, with the presence of the granddaughters Carmen and Cristina Cabrera Navarro, to study the possibility that the "papers" be deposited and properly kept in the Historical Archive of the University in which Blas Cabrera was a professor and rector.
In mid-October, Luis Cabrera Pérez disseminates an 'Open Letter', defamatory and with threatening overtones, attacking the honor of the person who has been the "Guardian of the memory" of Blas Cabrera and the Spaniards in exile for more than forty years, as highlighted by the professor and undisputed authority in this matter, Francisco Giral, in the prologue of his book Spanish Science in Exile.
And that's where we are. It's that simple. A family dispute between grandchildren of Blas Cabrera, taken out of context, perhaps with some spurious interest external to them, which invites us to refer to the adage "A troubled river, gain for fishermen".
Since 1988, when Nicolás Cabrera gave them to me, I have preserved and guarded with exquisite care the "papers" that seem to be preserved from the exile of Blas Cabrera, and I have exhibited them in public when possible. It does not seem prudent that, after 34 years, a hasty action will cause them to be lost. Rather, prudence invites us to wait for the necessary guarantees, duly documented and justified, regarding the claims of some and other grandchildren.
In any case, in light of the facts, everything indicates that the solution will have to be a Solomonic decision.
