Fernando Asuero

Fernando Asuero Sáenz de Cenzano (29 May 1887 – 2 December 1942) was a Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Athletic Club, and a doctor, creator of the controversial asueroterapia, a dubious method applied by means of small cauterizations in the trigeminal nerve to cure several diseases.

Education He was born into a family of famous surgeons, at number 3 Miramar Street. His grandfather, Vicente Asuero, was a professor of General Therapeutics and physician to the king consort Francisco de Asís. He studied medicine at the Universidad de Madrid and specialized in otorhinolaryngology. He selected throat, nose, and ear as his specialty. Later, he went to Paris to deepen his studies and knowledge at the clinic of Dr. Lubet Barbon. He also studied at the University of Cambridge. Three years later, he was a member of the Athletic side that won the 1910 Copa del Rey (UECF), although he did not play in the final, where his replacement, Luis Astorquia, kept a clean-sheet a 1–0 win over Vasconia, the name under which the newly founded Real Sociedad played. He was the starting goalkeeper on 9 January 1910, at the premiere of the red and white shirt by Athletic Club, although as a goalkeeper, he wore a different shirt.

Prior to starting his own practice in the center of the city when he returned to San Sebastián, he worked in a number of clinics. He quickly became known among the citizens due to his excellent personal treatment and his social commitment, which would lead him to act as a councilor in the city council of San Sebastián between 1923 and 1925. Later came the play Nena, tócame el trigémino. The Cuban singer Miguel Matamoros composed the song El paralítico since, in his opinion, "in 1930 in Cuba nothing was talked about other than the ability of the doctor Fernando Asuero to cure paralysis".

Images The crowd gathered to greet Dr. Fernando Asuero, next to his house, Calle Loyola in San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa), in 1929.

Death He died in San Sebastián on 2 December 1942, at the age of 55.

Honours Athletic Bilbao Champion: 1910 Runner-up: 1907