The Spanish archaeological community is saddened by the death of Dr. Rafael Ramos Fernández. His intellectual figure revolved fundamentally around the knowledge of Iberian culture, delving into two of its most outstanding testimonies, the Alcudia of Elche, and its most fascinating daughter, the Dama. In short, a life centred on the ancient history of Elche, his city of birth and from where he has left us. His professional career, once he obtained his degree at the University of Murcia, began with a thesis on the Roman city of Ilici and where he gathered the available information on the site from that period. Between those early days and today, his scientific output was enormous, and it is worth mentioning The Iberians. Images and myths of Iberia and the Dama de Elche, find, archaeology and historyHe has also written dozens of articles and specialised books on the history of Elche, guides on La Alcudia and, it is worth mentioning, a manual on the archaeological discipline of Elche. Archaeology, methods and techniqueswhich was an essential book for history students in the eighties of the last century. He made a decisive contribution to the future of the Alcudia with the creation of the University Foundation, in charge of its research and conservation since 1996, tasks that had previously fallen on his shoulders and before that on those of his father Alejandro Ramos Folqués. She was also an essential figure in the creation of the MAHE, Museum of History and Archaeology of Elche, where her beloved lady lived for some months in 2006. As a notorious personality in the professional field, he was required to form part of distinguished academic and cultural institutions. He was a lecturer at the University of Alicante and the UNED in Elche, a member of the Royal Academy of History, the Valencian Council of Culture and a trustee of the MARQ Foundation, among others.
The staff of the MARQ Archaeological Museum of Alicante and the CV-MARQ Foundation express their sorrow for the definitive absence of someone they have always considered a master and convey their condolences to the family, his widow Isabel Molina and his daughter and children Angela, Alejandro, Adolfo and Rafael.
Rest in peace.
