The city of Agadir will host a seminar on the life and work of the Andalusian physician Avenzoar

In order to discover the history of the Andalusian physician Marwan Ibn Zohr, better known in the West as Avenzoar, the Ibn Zohr University of Agadir, the Cervantes Institute of Marrakech and the Spanish Embassy in Morocco, in collaboration with the University of Seville and the Avenzoar Pharmaceutical Foundation, are organising a Spanish-Moroccan seminar celebrating the life and legacy of this crucial figure in medieval medicine.  

Leading researchers from Spain and Morocco will meet during the day to explore the life, works and medical and pharmacological practice of Avenzoar, who was born at the end of the 11th century in the historic town of Peñaflor in Seville. 

The programme includes various conferences given by renowned experts in their respective fields, such as Bouzineb Hossain, professor of Hispanic Philology at the Mohamed V University of Rabat and member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, who will give a talk entitled "The truncated coexistence of the times of Ibn Zohr", and Esteban Moreno Toral, professor at the University of Seville and president of the Avenzoar Pharmaceutical Foundation, who will present two papers: "The saga of Ibn Zohr doctors: Court doctors in Al-Andalus" and "Avenzoar, reformer of food, cosmetics and pharmacology". 

Manuel Herrera Carranza, doctor and expert, will also participate with two presentations: "Avenzoar, a life between two shores" and "Avenzoar, a practical and innovative clinical doctor". Abdelkader Mellouk, professor at the Ibn Zohr University, will speak on "Avenzoar: the experimental basis of his medical philosophy".

In addition, Rachid Benbih and Rachid Kounani, also professors at the Ibn Zohr University, will give talks on "Diet and the maintenance of health in Morocco and Andalusia through Avenzoar's Book of Food" and "Food and the preservation of health in the Courts of the Almohads according to his two works", respectively. 

Finally, María Dolores López Enamorado, delegate of the University of Seville for Africa and Arab countries, will represent her university at the signing of the KA171 collaboration agreement between the universities of Seville and Ibn Zohr of Agadir.  

This meeting will not only highlight the relevance of Avenzoar as a cultural nexus between the Spanish-Arab world, but will also facilitate the union between the universities of Agadir and Seville, strengthening academic ties between the two countries and promoting research and collaboration in the field of medicine. 

The holding of this seminar underlines the commitment of the organising institutions to research and strengthen the shared roots between Morocco and Spain. 

Submitted by José Antonio Sierra, Hispanismo advisor.