GINER DE LOS RIOS, FRANCISCO (1840--1915) Spanish philosopher and jurist, was born in Ronda (Andalusia) on Oct. io, 184o. He graduated in Granada, and in 1867 went to the University of Madrid as a professor of jurisprudence and there came under the influence of Professor Sanz del Rio, Krause's famous disciple. In accordance with his belief that philosophy should have a concrete influence on practical life, he devoted him self to the educational question. Twice Giner resigned his chair, together with several of his colleagues, in a stand for liberty of thought in the university against a reactionary Government, and was twice reinstated. He helped to found the Institucion Libre de Ensenanza, an educational institution which did much to improve teaching methods in Spain, by the application of philosophical thought to the problems of education. His greatest influence was personal and direct, for he was a born teacher, a man of refined sensibility, pure in his life as in his ideals.
Giner published several volumes of essays—literary, educational, philosophical and religious—as well as Lecciones Sumarias de Psicologia (187 1) ; Psicologia; Idea del Derecho, with Alfredo Calderon, trans. from the German of Roder (1885) ; Resumen de Filosofia del Derecho, with Alfredo Calderon (1898) ; and other works. A complete edition of his numerous works was undertaken a year after his death.
See S. de Madariaga, The Genius of Spain (1923) .