Headquarters of the Mercantile Athenaeum of Valencia.
The Mercantile Athenaeum of Valencia is a cultural institution of Valencia, Spain, founded in 1879 by Estanislao García Monfort and, among others, by Eduardo Pérez Pujol, one of the defenders of neogremialismo who tried to gather the dependents of commerce of the City of Valencia. History
With time it became one of the associations on the margin of the most important political parties of the valencian mercantile bourgeoisie. The first trade schools, the Chamber of Commerce, the body of trade brokers and the stock exchanges were founded at his initiative. At the impulse of its president, Tomás Trénor y Palavicino, was one of the organizers of the Regional Exhibition of Valencia in 1909. Shortly afterwards, the president was Adolf Beltran y Ibáñez, one of the heads of the Autonomist Republican Union Party, which dominated the mayoralty of Valencia. During the period of the Spanish Civil War it took the name of Valencian Popular Athenaeum, and was in the hands of the sector addicted to the Second Spanish Republic. After the conflict, it was banned from 1939 to 1950. Present
Since 1950, the Ateneo has been declared a Public Utility and has its headquarters in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. It has nearly 3,000 members, a library that houses more than 52,000 volumes and a newspaper library with newspaper headers since 1790. It also has a good gallery whose funds include paintings from the house that belonged to the photographer Antonio García Peris, father-in-law of Sorolla, made by the painter Antonio Cortina Farinós. Currently, the institution is in decline because of the presidency of Carmen de Rosa.
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