Introduction

The life and work of Santiago Ramon y Cajal has been portrayed in scientific papers, biographical and autobiographical works, comics, films, television series or documentaries that have attempted to reflect upon his life or his contributions to science and to bring him closer to the general public.

Aims

To analyse the different ways Santiago Ramon y Cajal has been represented in literature, cinema and television, and to become more closely acquainted with this scientist through his fictional writings.

Development

A number of biographical works have been written about Santiago Ramon y Cajal, including scientific papers, comics, books for children and youngsters, as well as the autobiographical writings, essays and even science fiction stories, which provide a good introduction to the life of the scientist and his work. His life has also been adapted to film (Leap to fame) or television (Ramon y Cajal, historia de una voluntad; The butterflies of the soul), which have, with varying degrees of success and accuracy, made him better known to the general population.

Conclusions

The numerous biographical writings, historical notes, articles, the scientific work itself, the essays and fictional works by Cajal, as well as the portrayals of the Spanish Nobel Prize winner produced for films and television, can be used to obtain some interesting insights into the scientist, teacher, science populariser, humanist physician and, in short, the man who made such important contributions to neuroscience.