Cagigal: A portrait of the man

Abstract

“Cagigal: A Portrait of the Man” offers a new insight into the founder of Spain’s prestigious “National Institute for Physical Education” (INEF), whose forward-thinking approach and work were the forerunners of what is today known as sports psychology. An outline is made of Cagigal’s concept of sport as both a means and an end in itself, as an educational tool and a philosophy of life, which José María Cagigal extended to all aspects of his life. His daughter, Dr. Virginia Cagigal de Gregorio, helps us to discover a man who was deeply committed to his philosophy of education, to human beings and to sport. These ideas were put into practice in his professional and personal life, transforming his family into a team and his life into an exercise in sport.