The María Zambrano Foundation, it’s a cultural private foundation based on the Beniel Palace in Vélez-Málaga, founded the 12th of June 1987. According to Article 5 of its Statutes, the María Zambrano Foundation has the essential objective to disseminate and conservate the thought and the work of María Zambrano for which there will be held those activities that may be considered interesting and convenient for that.

María Zambrano herself chose the members of the Foundation. The aim was to strike balance between intellectuals, writers and politics, and between the personalities from Málaga and the rest of Spain, so the Foundation could connect and take root in its hometown, while at the same time not losing the universal nature that her philosophical production had always enjoyed. On the 23rd of that same month, the first meeting of the Foundation was held in Zambrano’s own home.

The town Council of Vélez-Málaga was generously involved, specially its mayor Juan Gámez, to whom María Zambrano would say: “Juan, my friend, I am convinced that without your involvement, however small it may seem to you, what we dream of, will not go ahead”, resulting in the Foundation that would bear her name and which she would direct herself during her lifetime.

The Foundation was concerned, during María Zambrano’s lifetime, in helping to cover her financial needs, for which she was assigned a sufficient monthly subsidy that enabled our philosopher to devote herself entirely to her investigations and publications. On the other hand, Zambrano donated all her cultural heritage to the Foundation. This period of her life was, without a doubt, one of her most fruitful ones. Since its institution and while accomplishing its fundamental objectives, the Foundation carries out different cultural activities such as seminars, exhibitions, essay prizes, scholarships, lecture series, etc. Of all these activities, we would highlight the international congresses and meetings. 

Towards the end of 1991, following the death of María Zambrano and by her will, her entire documentary and bibliographic legacy became a part of the archive and library of the María Zambrano Foundation. These collections have been opened since the spring of 1992 to researchers and scholars of Zambrano’s work from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with free access. The Foundation’s archives are documentary and bibliographic.

Nowadays, the María Zambrano Foundation is involved in a complete process of digitisation of documents and archives such as correspondence, photographs, manuals, etc. Creating itself, its own database that allows access to all digitised archives, facilitating in this way their consultation. At the same time, the Foundation has an important concern for disseminating María Zambrano’s work throughout the world and we know that is essential to be worldwide connected by channels such as social networks. To this end, the content about the thinker and the own Foundation is disseminated through these platforms.