IPHES-CERCA expresses its condolences on the passing of Professor Rodolfo Cortés

The IPHES-CERCA team wishes to express its deepest condolences on the passing of Professor Rodolfo Cortés Cortés, a key figure in the development of archaeology in Tarragona and someone closely linked to the academic and institutional beginnings that, over the years, have evolved into what is now IPHES-CERCA.

Rodolfo Cortés was connected to the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV) from its very beginnings, following an academic career that started as a Professor of Archaeology in Division VII of the Universitat de Barcelona in October 1974. In July 1992, he joined URV, where he played a decisive role in promoting and strengthening archaeological and heritage research in the region.

A leading figure in the study and dissemination of Tarraco

Recognised as one of the foremost experts on Tarraco, Cortés made a decisive contribution to the recovery, study and dissemination of Roman heritage, leaving a profound mark both on the scientific community and on the social recognition of Tarragona’s historical legacy.

His career was particularly associated with the transformation and consolidation of research structures that shaped a fundamental period for both the city and the university. With the arrival of Eudald Carbonell in Tarragona (1988), Cortés promoted the creation of the Archaeology Laboratory of the Universitat de Barcelona in Tarragona (LAUBT), a pioneering initiative that brought together classical archaeology and prehistory.

Later, with the establishment of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, this laboratory evolved into the Archaeology Laboratory of the Universitat de Tarragona (LAUT), considered one of the academic and scientific spaces that served as a direct precursor to today’s IPHES-CERCA. This shared trajectory represents, for us, a collective legacy that further strengthens the human and institutional bond with his figure.

He served as a tenured university lecturer from 1985 until his retirement in 2007, and was subsequently appointed Professor Emeritus at URV, a position he held until 2013. This distinction, reserved for academics with an outstanding career, allowed him to continue contributing to teaching, research and knowledge transfer.

A legacy that will endure

At IPHES-CERCA we wish to honour his career and his role at a key moment in the consolidation of university archaeology in our region. His contribution to research, teaching and heritage has left a profound legacy that will endure in the institutions, in the projects, and in the people who were his students, colleagues or collaborators.

May he rest in peace.