Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana, was a Spanish-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised and educated in the US from the age of eight and identified himself as an American, although he always retained a valid Spanish passport. At the age of 48, Santayana left his position at Harvard and returned to Europe permanently. His last will was to be buried in the Spanish Pantheon in Rome.
A 1936 Time drawing of Santayana
Santayana lived in Hollis Hall as a student at Harvard.
Santayana early in his career
Santayana's famous aphorism "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" is inscribed on a plaque at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Polish translation and English back-translation (above), and on a subway placard in Germany (below).
The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in colonial-era British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. The school's admission policies and demographics have been controversial.
Logo as of 2019
Plaque on School Street commemorating the site of the first Boston Latin School building
Hall of the Boston Latin School House on Bedford Street, 1844–1881
The school's front entrance on Avenue Louis Pasteur in 2007