University | 7 years of research and the story behind the book that reveals the origin of Cream Club | University Centenary | Lolo Fernandez | Game-Total

The time difference complicates things, but Alexander Cassis Ramirez-Gaston follows his girlfriend's games almost as a family tradition. Sports University From the distant Baltic Sea. This Peruvian historian and communicator, who has lived in Sweden for three decades, believes that his relationship with the 'U' has recently changed. The reason: a book on the Centenary Society that he has produced over the past seven years.

“You think about university as much as you think about your family. It's part of life,” says the teacher.Origin of the University. The Birth of a Popular Interest” (Editorial Mesa Rentanta, 2023).

Cassis Ramírez-Gastón is no stranger to researching the history of 'cream'. He has published a series of historical essays on the official website of the student body. From its structure and approach, the book project is significantly more ambitious, and its aim is to let the masses know what the 'U' was before Lolo Fernandez, 27 Stars and the still new 'Matutaso' on November 8. 2023.

“The purpose of this book is to make the 'U' fan proud of his roots, because it is unusual for a team to be built to represent the country's honor. Because that was the initial idea. San Marcos became the last bastion of Peruvian sports, because a century ago there was a great national crisis and it was necessary to train athletes with healthy minds in healthy bodies. It is something that is needed today and will always be needed.“, he demands.

'Cremas' is a character inseparable from appearance

Although the gunman Teodoro 'Lolo' Fernandez appears in several pages of the text, there is another character who draws attention at various moments. It is the university professor Carlos Cáceres Alvarez (1898-1951), the 'father' of physical education in our country and the promoter of the gymnasium in the Universidad Nacional de San Marcos and the University Federation. It is in these spaces that the first elements of symbolism associated with the nail emerge to this day.

“Without Cáceres Alvarez in San Marcos, the U would not exist. Maybe there were football or basketball teams with varsity students, but they wouldn't have been truly competitive teams, nor would the 'U' symbol have been a champion that was hard to match.”, note Cassis.

Rather than being developed, Cáceres Álvarez gathered the necessary knowledge from his travels and studies abroad to promote the importance of physical culture in Peru. Thus he would be the great protagonist of a decade – the 1920s – that transcended classrooms to the university environment. “His hard work revolutionized science physical education and university sports in our country.” (page 43).

Institutionally, when asked how to elevate the image of this author who died in 1951 to a place similar to him in 'Cream' appearance, the author feels that it will be enough for those who manage it. The club will start mentioning him publicly today. This, a 'centennial' annual spread, can cause everything to collapse under its own weight.

'Lolo' The Gunner, National Idol

Even a scholar of creme history like Alexandre Cassis Ramírez-Gaston cannot resist the temptation to talk about the dreaded 'artilleryman' Teodoro Fernández Meyzan (1913-1996). The native of San Vicente de Cañete leaves more than impressions on the pages of his book.

“Lolo is considered the first national statue Peru had. And to be a national idol, all the fans have to pay tribute to you, and they did so with him in 1935 upon his return from Chile. As he was the axis of the 'black roller', they carry him on their shoulders in the kalla. There you feel the affection they have for him from another club as well“, he says.

Cassis Ramírez-Gaston refers to Alianza Lima's 1935 tour of the neighboring country to the south. Success after success, the 'classic rival' was respected against Santiago Wanderers, Audax Italiano, Union Española, Magellan and Colo Colo. The cream striker collaborated with five goals on the tour, a remarkable record according to the sports press chronicles of the first half of the last century.

This last detail perfectly illustrates what an idol is, to eternally celebrate a football player that some of our grandparents didn't even play for. Although for the author”Origin of the University”, Cañetano Gunner included that and many other ideas. “Precisely, his presence on the playing fields defending his values ​​and the jerseys of his rivals is an example to all, because by playing for others he also defended the honor of Peru.”.

“Before they used to talk about national idols, but today, unfortunately, they limit themselves to being the idol of Lolo 'U', but he is an idol for the whole country, which I believe they would never have dared to do in the past. Attack his statue”, he laments.

Between cream t-shirts and sequel projects

At more than 200 pages, the Mesa Redonda-published book contains not only names, figures and black-and-white photographs, but mainly stories. Small events may be of great interest in a volume that is kept in the 'background' of all cream fans.

One of those little stories has to do with the shirt of the 27-time national champion club. The 'U' logo placed high above the heart, the 'cream' color was much appreciated in the international broadcasts, but above all the experiences of the men behind it were those details like a small rehearsal of an identity. .

“Dr. Cáceres Alvarez's son Baldomero told me that his mother, Susana Santamaría, embroidered some of the 'U' symbols. Logically, it was not only her, but also the mothers and sisters of the players, at home I gathered together to do it, and then put them in a safety pin shirt. The same thing happens with the first flags created by relatives of the first Universitario football players.“, highlights.

Center of page 160Origin of the University“An enormous photograph in a rectangular shape shows the details its author mentions: now the logo of the Centenary Club is secured with a safety pin. A vintage dream for the new T-shirts of the future? Time and Marketing He will say that.

This last factor must also play its part so that Cassis Ramírez-Gaston can implement the second part of his editorial project, which will see the light of day during the centenary. “In the next book I will delve into various topics from the 1930s. The championships of '34', '36' and '39' and the Bolivarians, I can only mention as minor references in this first installment. If Maestro Cáceres was the best person in the first book, Lolo Fernández will be in the next book.” concludes the author.

About the presentation

“The Origin of the University. The Birth of Popular Interest” will have its presentation on Wednesday January 17 at 7pm at Crisol del Óvalo Gutierrez. The author will be accompanied by Jaime Bulger Vidal and Juan Mauricio Muñoz