Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Nicolas Roberto Robles

  • Enrique IV of Castile, The Impotent

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Enrique IV was born on January 5, 1425, in Valladolid, Spain. He was the son of John II of Castile and Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand I of Aragon. When John II died on 20 July 1454, Enrique was proclaimed king the following day. Prince Enrique had married Blanche of…

  • The strange death of Nana

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain “Nana was all covered with fine hair; a russet made her body velvety…”—Emile Zola, Nana The French writer Émile Zola (1840–1902), considered the leading representative of literary naturalism in his time,1 observed people and contemporary events in his novels. Zola never ceased to get involved in social, artistic, or literary causes that…

  • The early death of Alfonso XII

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain ¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII?¿Dónde vas triste de ti?Voy en busca de MercedesQue ayer tarde no la vi. Where are you going, Alfonso XII?Where are you going so blue?I am looking for MercedesYesterday I did not see her. —Popular Spanish song King Alfonso XII of Spain was born in Madrid on November 28,…

  • The twelve children of Isabel II

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Isabel II de Borbón, Queen of Spain from 1833 to 1868, was born in 1830 in Madrid. She was a daughter of Ferdinand VII and succeeded him to the throne in 1833 shortly after her birth. Each European power presented a candidate for consort of the Spanish queen, and the only one…

  • The wild Wolf and neurosyphilis

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Von den Bergen sacht hernieder,Weckend die uralten Lieder,Steigt die wunderbare Nacht,Und die Gründe glänzen wieder,Wie du’s oft im Traum gedacht. Gently down from the mountains,Waking the ancient songs,Rises the wonderful night,And the grounds shine again,As you often thought in your dreams. —“Nachtzauber”, Gedichte, von Joseph, Freiherr von Eichendorf Hugo Wolf, reputed as…

  • María de las Mercedes, the Spanish Romantic queen

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Ya Mercedes está muerta,muerta está, que yo la ví,cuatro duques la llevabanpor las calles de Madrid. Mercedes is already dead,she’s dead, I did saw her,four dukes were her carryingthrough the streets of Madrid.—Popular Spanish song María de la Mercedes de Orleans y Borbón was born in Madrid, Spain, on June 24, 1860.…

  • John Polidori, physician and writer

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of life.—Polidori, The Vampire Some have regarded John William Polidori as the inventor of the vampire ghost story style. Born in 1795 in the City of Westminster, he was the son of Gaetano Polidori, who had come to England in…

  • King Henry III of Castile, the Suffering

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Henry III of Castile was called “the Suffering” (in Spanish, Enrique III el Doliente) because of his ill health. He was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon, born in 1379 in Burgos. Henry was the first person to hold the title of Prince of Asturias as heir to the…

  • Did Georges Bizet die from a broken heart?

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Georges Bizet (born Alexandre César Léopold Bizet in Paris on October 25, 1838) was a Romantic French composer. Because he made harsh demands on himself, he produced few finished works. Many were withheld by the composer himself and recovered posthumously, such as his Symphony in C Major (1855). Born into a family…

  • What caused Offenbach’s death?

    Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain Born in Cologne in 1819, Jakob Eberst (Jacques) Offenbach showed early musical talent. His father taught him to play the violin when he was six years old, and at the age of nine, he began to play the cello. At fourteen, he was accepted as a student at the Paris Conservatory directed…