Hello Jeff,

My name is Isabel. I am a Monico Sanchez`s grand girl and Juan Pablo make me know you are interested in my grandfather´s life. Thanks a lot!  It´s very gratifying for me!

I am going to try to talk concisely about him.

He was born in 1880 in a small village Piedrabuena in the center of Spain. His parents were workers and they couldn´t afford their children´s education. So, when he was fourteen he left home to work in a shop. When he had saved enough money he went to Madrid, where he spent some time learning English and electricity before going to USA in 1903.

There, he kept studying while he was working. Some time later he invented his X-Ray apparatus and patented it in 1909 as you know. Although the apparatus had a great success in USA, he decided to go back to Spain and set up a factory in Piedrabuena.

For thirty years he directed a successful company dedicated to sell X-Ray Apparatus, at first for medical use and afterwards for teaching physics. He won lots of prices like the Golden Medal of the Universal Exposition of Barcelona in 1929.

Finally, the Civil War, the isolated of Spain and the blows of the fate (he lost five of his six children) took his company to the end. He died in 1961.

Regarding his life in America, I don’t know very much. He worked for some companies: The Foote Pierson Company, The Vanhouten &Ten Broek Company and finally for The Collins Wireless Telephone Company. In 1946 he came back to USA to try to relaunch his company.

Although I only have a few memories (I was a child when he died), I remember him like a hard-worker and enthusiastic man.

I hope this notes have been useful in order you know better one of the earlier X-Ray pioneers.

Regards

            Isabel Estébanez Sánchez