José Goyanes was a renowned Spanish surgeon. A short biographical summary of his life is presented, with the posts he occupied and the awards he received. He was a world pioneer in vascular surgery where he made outstanding contributions to this speciality, many of them pioneering and some of his publications were before those of Alexis Carrel, Nobel prize-winner in Medicine. He was also an authority on oncology and an expert in the majority of surgical techniques in use in his era. He was a writer, historian, essayist and notable traveller which earned him the name of "Universal Man". He has not been fully recognised as a man of science.