Víctor García de la Concha


Víctor García de la Concha is a Spanish philologist. He is a past director of the Cervantes Institute and a past director of the Royal Spanish Academy. He served three four-year terms in that position, from 1998 to 2010. Directors usually serve no more than two terms.

Life & career

De la Concha took his bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Oviedo and in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He taught at several institutions and universities, including the University of Valladolid, University of Murcia and University of Zaragoza, until he obtained the Chair of Spanish Literature at the University of Salamanca.
He was one of the scriptwriters for the 1984 TV mini-series, Teresa de Jesús, and had a cameo role in one episode, playing the Archbishop of Seville, who blesses Teresa. In 1987, he became manager of the literary magazine Ínsula
In 1992, he entered the Royal Spanish Academy as an Academic Numerary, occupying seat. The next year, he became Secretary and, in 1998, Director. In 2000, he was named a Doctor Honoris Causa in Letters at Francisco Morazán National Pedagogic University in Tegucigalpa, on the occasion of his visit to the Academia Hondureña de la Lengua.
In 2009, he received the Lázaro Carreter Prize, and in 2010, King Juan Carlos I named him a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
In 2011, he received the Menéndez Pelayo International Prize, and in January 2012, was named director of the Cervantes Institute.

Selected works