José Gálvez Ginachero, the first director

The first director of the Casa de Salud de Santa Cristina was José Gálvez Ginachero (1866-1952), a gynaecologist educated in Granada and who completed his studies in Germany and England. José Gálvez Ginachero met one of the conditions required by the deed of donation of 1916, being a person with deep Catholic feelings and professionally competent.

A few days after the opening of the Casa, Gálvez Ginachero was elected Mayor of Malaga (where he was born and where he died), a post which was incompatible with directing the centre. José Bourkaib Besó, the sub-director, temporarily took his place. With the exception of this brief political venture, and unlike many of his colleagues, Gálvez Ginachero did not seek fame and honours, but rather devoted himself exclusively to his clinical duties, without attending academies or conferences, and not spending time writing scientific articles.

Given that women were initially reluctant to go to a hospital to give birth, the Casa had to come up with strategies to promote the institution. One of these was to print postcards, like the one pictured, to give out in popular parts of Madrid like the Rastro (flea market), with a view to attracting more pregnant women to the Casa.

In the photo on the postcard we can see José Gálvez Ginachero in the operations room surrounded by some students, who appear to be receiving practical training. The photo was taken after his return from a brief political adventure in Malaga in 1926. One of the students, the one at the foot of the bed where the patient is lying, was Gregoria Villafría Arnáiz (1902-1969), about whom we shall speak more later on and shall also examine some documents which belonged to her and are relevant to her time at the Casa training as a midwife. Gálvez Ginachero stayed in charge of Santa Cristina until 1930, although he remained connected to the centre after the Civil War as president of the Trust which governed it.