The Elements of Dermatology: The Legacy of Covisa and Bejarano

Abstract

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.