The personal collection of Eduard Ripoll i Perelló is now available at the Humanities Library

The personal collection now made public, donated by the heirs of Eduard Ripoll to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2022, is held at the Humanities Library, where it is currently undergoing cataloguing and classification.

Eduard Ripoll (Tarragona, 1923 – Barcelona, 2006) was a leading figure of the so-called Barcelona School in the field of prehistory and archaeology. Throughout his career he held positions of great significance, including Director of the Archaeological Museum of Barcelona, Director of the Empúries excavations, and Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Spain.

After graduating from the University of Barcelona, he furthered his training at the Institute of Human Palaeontology in Paris between 1950 and 1951, under the supervision of Abbé Henri Breuil, one of the world’s foremost authorities on the study of rock art at the time. Specialising in prehistoric art, the subject of his doctoral thesis, Ripoll maintained close ties with leading international specialists and was a member of the International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences.

His academic career was particularly intensive. He began as a teaching assistant at the University of Barcelona and later joined the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, with a period also spent at the University of Oviedo. In 1981 he founded the Chair of Prehistory at the UNED, where he remained active as Professor Emeritus after his retirement. He was also a member of the Milà i Fontanals Institution of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

In the field of cultural heritage, he served as Delegate, Commissioner and Provincial Councillor for Fine Arts, and took part in the UNESCO-led Nubia safeguarding campaigns. In the final years of his life, he carried out significant work at the Royal Academy of Good Letters of Barcelona, where he became President in 1996.

The collection currently available for consultation comprises approximately 18,000 personal and professional documents, allowing a detailed reconstruction of his career in both the heritage and academic spheres, as well as his involvement in cultural associations and institutions. The collection includes drafts and multiple versions of papers, articles and speeches — both published and unpublished — research documentation, teaching materials and heritage reports.

A particularly significant part of the archive is the correspondence, which reveals his extensive network of relationships with scholars and institutions worldwide. The collection also includes an important photographic archive, of special value for the study of prehistoric art.