Jaume Roca Collection

Jaume Roca i Torras (Manresa, 1928 – Barcelona, 2012)

A veterinarian graduated from the University of Zaragoza (1945-1950), Jaume Roca i Torras began his career in 1951 as a veterinary lieutenant at the Academia de Sanidad Militar – Sección Veterinaria in Madrid, where he was assigned to the 4th Military Region in Puigcerdà. He specialised in bacteriology and clinical analysis between 1953 and 1954. In 1956, he was posted to the Ganado Equino Military Hospital in Barcelona, where he served as its director from 1970 to 1977. His military career culminated in 1983 with his promotion to Veterinary Colonel, after thirty-three years of service.

In addition to his military role, Roca i Torras worked as a municipal veterinary technician in the Superior Veterinary Corps of the Barcelona City Council (1969-1993), specialising in food safety and the prevention of transmissible zoonoses in public health, particularly in markets and municipal administration.

Roca i Torras was also a pioneer in the field of animal nutrition, promoting intensive animal breeding using compound feeds, which led him to take on technical roles in various feed industries. He represented Spain at the Centre for International Animal Nutrition Research (CRINA) in Geneva from 1965 to 1975. In 1963, he joined Laboratoris Esteve to establish its Veterinary Division, where he remained until his retirement in 1993. A year before retiring, he earned his PhD from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with the first thesis on veterinary history in Catalonia: Historia de la Veterinaria en Cataluña (1400-1980). He was also a key figure in founding the Associació Catalana d'Història de la Veterinària (ACHV), serving as its president from 1998 to 2012.

Collection description: This collection includes personal and private documentation, correspondence, associative and academic records, scientific works (including historical and biographical studies), and an associated library. It comprises a total of 424 documentary units. The collection occupies 30 boxes, with part of it having been digitised.

Collection date range: 1885-2006

Depositary library: Veterinary Library

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