José L. Romanillos

José Luis Romanillos Vega (17 June 1932 - 11 February 2022) was a Spanish luthier, historian, and author.

Biography Romanillos was born in Madrid in 1932 to a family from the Guadalajara towns of Madrigal and Tordelrábano. At the age of thirteen, he became an apprentice at the Madrid cabinetmaker Muebles Caballero, where he learned basic woodworking techniques, gaining experience working with different types of wood.

Research and publications Romanillos combined his work as a luthier with instrumental research, through which he contributed to the dissemination and recognition of the work of Spanish violin makers. He published three books, in collaboration with his wife Marian Harris Winspear.

Antonio de Torres: His Life and Work, Institute of Almeria Studies (Almeria, 1983). Foreword by Julian Bream. Translated into six languages: English, Italian, Japanese, German, Spanish and Chinese. The Vihuela de mano and the Spanish guitar: A Dictionary of the Makers of Plucked and Bowed Musical Instruments of Spain (1200-2002), The Sanguino Press, (Guijosa, 2002). Making a Spanish Guitar, Romanillos, 2013.

Awards

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Alicante (June 30, 2014) Favorite Son of Almeria (June 13, 2017) Plaque for regional merit of Castilla-La Mancha (May 31, 2019) Adopted Son of the city of Sigüenza (August 8, 2020)