Historical and biographical review of some of the main figures of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects from its foundation to the present day.
José Oroz Reta, a native of Beire (Navarra), was born in 1923. At the age of 11, he entered the seminary at Lodosa. He completed his novitiate at Monteagudo and was ordained a priest in Marcilla in 1946. He studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in Zaragoza for two years and, in 1949, transferred to Salamanca to specialize in Classical Philology and pursue his doctorate.
Oroz spent the remainder of his life in Salamanca and its Pontifical University, fulfilling his intellectual vocation as a professor, researcher, and writer until his death in 1996.
He honed his literary skills in the Boletín de la Provincia de San Nicolás de Tolentine [Bulletin of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine]. At 20, he published “La instrucción de los clérigos según documentos eclesiásticos” [The Instruction of the Clergy According to Church Documents]. In 1956, he won first prize in an international contest commemorating the 16th centenary of Saint Augustine’s birth. He then presented his doctoral dissertation on “The Language and Rhetoric in the Sermons of Saint Augustine,” which he defended at the university under the title “Augustinus rhetor et orator” [Augustine: Rhetorician and Orator].
In 1960, through his merits, he obtained the Chair of Latin Philology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, where he served as dean for three triennia until his retirement. He was renowned for his pedagogical charisma and his warm, close relationship with his students.
Oroz possessed an extraordinary cultural background. He was well-versed in philosophy, theology, literature, history, languages, and the arts, but his true expertise lay in Classical Greco-Latin culture, particularly in the works of Vergil.
He was known for his dedication, steadfastness, and intense sense of responsibility. He balanced teaching with the editorship of two scholarly journals of high scientific standing: “Avgustinvs” and “Helmántica,” the former focusing on the thoughts and works of Saint Augustine, the latter a journal of the faculty of which he was dean.
He published nearly 200 articles in journals, conference proceedings, miscellaneous publications, and festschrifts, primarily focusing on Saint Augustine and Classic Latin authors. He also delivered approximately a hundred conferences on these subjects.
Oroz’s valuable translations of Latin works into Spanish are noteworthy, among which “Las Etimologías de San Isidoro de Sevilla” [The Etymologies of Saint Isidore of Sevilla] stands out. Additionally, he was a member of prestigious institutions such as the Spanish Association of Medieval Philosophy and the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies, based in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. These affiliations allowed him to forge contacts and friendships with researchers worldwide.
