Data for the history of a unsuccessful enterprise: the Central School of Gimnastics

Abstract

The aim of this article has been to put forward some badknown facts dealing with the history of the Central School of Gymnastics of Madrid (1883-1892), the former physical education teachers' training Centre stablished in Spain, which short life only spread realy from 1887 to 1892. At the time of its closing, all its documents were stored in the archives of Central University (Complutense University of Madrid, at present); the review of these papers is the documentary basis underlaying this work which offers, we hope, some new information about the School conditions and operation and about the reasons explaining its ephemeral life.