Francisco Giner de los Ríos

Francisco Giner de los Ríos (10 October 1839 in Ronda, Spain[1] – 18 February 1915 in Madrid) was a philosopher, educator and one of the most influential Spanish intellectuals at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

He was strongly influenced by the ideas of the Kantian German philosopher Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (as imported into Spain by Julián Sanz del Río) and became an important exponent of "Krausismo" in Spain.

He openly criticized the government for its attempts to stifle academic freedom.

As a consequence, in 1875, he lost his chair at the university, which led to what can be seen as his major achievement: the 1876 foundation of the Institución Libre de Enseñanza (Institute of Free Teaching), a private school of higher learning.

He dedicated his life to the formation of human beings along coeducation; rationalism; and freedom of teaching, research, and literary communication.