Born in Madrid in 1940, the son of the jurist Alfonso García Valdecasa s and María Andrada Vanderwilde, José Guillermo received his elementar y education at the Colegio los Rosales in Madrid. After obtaining his law degree from the Universidad Complutense, he was awarded a scholars hip from the Real Colegio de España in Bologna (Italy) in 1963 through a nationwide contest. He spent two academic years there and earned hi s PhD in law for the thesis entitled ôSul contratto, idea-mito e strum ento tecnicoö, supervised by Felice Battaglia, for which he won the Lu igi Ravà prize. He was appointed rector of the institution in 1978 and continues to hold this post today.He is responsible for the discovery of the manuscript of Saint John of the CrossÆs ôCántico spiritualö da ted 1593, which is referred to by scholars as the ôG. Valdecasas codex Æ and proves the authenticityùhitherto widely deniedùof the ôCántico B ö. To him we also owe the retrieval of the great Spanish opera Celos, aun del aire matan b