Joaquín María Argamasilla de la Cerda y Elío ( Madrid, 4 April 1905 – 1985) was a Spanish noble who was the 11th Marquess de Santacara, but he is better known for claiming in the early 1920s a supposed ability to see through opaque objects. Argamasilla convinced important people of the era such as

Gustav Geley Gustav Geley (13 April 1868 – 15 July 1924) was a French physician, psychical researcher and director of the Institute Metapsychique International from 1919 to 1924.Charles Richet of his powers, but he was exposed by

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

as a fraud in 1924.

Biography

Joaquín Argamasilla was encouraged in his parapsychology career by his father, the Marquis de Santa Cara, who was convinced that his son had psychic powers. Argamasilla was promoted as having X-ray vision that could penetrate metal. For example, he was seemingly able to read the time on a watch through a case. Among the audience of these shows was the Spanish writer Valle-Inclan, who was a friend of the father of the psychic and became convinced that Joaquín's powers were real. Argamasilla's fame led him in 1924 to the

Pennsylvania Hotel The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

in New York City. There he met magician

, who became convinced that he was a fraud who just peeked through his simple blindfold and lifted up the edge of the box so he could look inside it without others noticing. Argamasilla could not replicate his abilities when forced to do the same with a box not owned by him. Houdini regarded Argamasilla to be "a very clever manipulator" who "acts his part in such as manner as to insure misdirection". Argamasilla never did another psychic demonstration. He later was assigned the position of general director of Film and Theatre (1952-1955).

In fiction

A fictional version of Argamasilla (in which his powers turn out to be real) appears in the 14th episode of the Spanish science-fiction series '' El Ministerio del Tiempo''.

Biography

In fiction

References

Further reading