The person who brought basketball to Spain
Eusebio Millán Alonso, a “escolapio” priest who we owe for bringing basketball to Spain. He was born in “La Quiñonería” (Soria) on 16th December 1886 and died in “Alella” (Barcelona) on 11th April 1956.
At a very young age he moved from Soria to Barcelona. He studied at the San Antonio “escolapios” school. In 1901 he entered the “Moya” seminary and ended his studies in Tarrasa in 1908. He started his career as a teacher in Mataró in 1910, and in 1911 he was transferred to Cuba, where he continued working as a teacher in schools in the cities of Cardenas and Guanabacoa. During his stay in Cuba he had his first contact with basketball.
He came back to Spain in 1921, continued his teaching career at the San Antonio Abad “pías” schools in Barcelona, where he introduced basketball to the students. With Father Millan’s persistence the children began to play basketball. In 1922 he founded the “Layetano Basketball club” - the first basketball team in Spain. The first basketball game was played on 8th December 1922, between Europa club and Layetano, the game was won by Europa with a score of 8-2.
Throughout his life, Father Millán promoted the expansion of basketball. He received recognition and awards such as the Sport Merit award from the Spanish basketball federation (FEB), and the “Baron Güell” trophy from the Spanish Sport Institution. The Catalonian Basketball Federation paid tribute to him in 1942.
Currently his name is used by the Eusebio Millán sport advancement entity (EMDE). There are streets dedicated to Father Millán in many cities, and there are two gyms which have his name, one is in Mataró and the other is in Soria where the basketball camp (CIMBI) is held.
More info (spanish): http://secviccentarticulo.blogspot.com.es/2006/12/eusebio-milln-escolapio-y-el.html