This monument to the politician from Zamora Claudio Moyano Samaniego (1809-1890) was erected at the proposal of El Magisterio Español, in gratitude for the publication during his ministry of the Public Education Act in 1857, which he drafted and in which primary education was declared mandatory in Spain. The statue in his honour, paid for by popular subscription, was opened in 1898, and was inaugurated on November 10, 1900, on the Atocha roundabout, next to the then Ministry of Public Works, now the Ministry of Agriculture. Nevertheless, it was to suffer various transfers and damages. It was in 1981, on the initiative of the Heritage Department of the Madrid City Council, when the decision was taken to move it to its original location, restoring the lost elements.

© Antonello Dellanotte