Specialist in Spanish Medieval Literature
As Visiting Professor, University of British Columbia, 1968-69, Arsenio Pacheco, born Barcelona, Spain, 1932, and his wife, Mercedes, decided they wanted to stay in Canada, “a truly new and open world where it would be possible for our two sons to learn and develop the personal and social values that we wished them to have.” The opportunity came a year later when UBC engaged Professor Pacheco to teach Spanish Language and Literature, with emphasis on his particular field of research, Catalan Medieval Literature and the Spanish l7th Century Novel. He became a Full Professor of Spanish, UBC, 1980, a post held until his retirement, 1997. A University of Barcelona M.A. graduate, l954, Ph.D., 1958, Professor Pacheco took a position as Assistant Lecturer, University of Glasgow, for two years before becoming Lecturer, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 1959, a position he held until moving to British Columbia, 1968. Professor Pacheco became involved in the Canadian Association of Hispanists, serving as President, 1978-81. He was a member, Executive Committee, Canadian Federation for the Humanities, 1984-85, was elected Member, Royal Society of Canada, 1981, and received the UBCIssac Walton Killam Memorial Senior Fellowship for research on the evolution of Catalan and Spanish narrative literature. “It is a long and ambitious project that still keeps me busy today,” he concedes. [Photo, courtesy Professor Arsenio Pacheco]