Fear of death and the wish for immortality were central notions in Dalí’s lifetime: his older brother, who was also named Salvador, died just nine months before the artist was born. This particular sensibility became even more prevalent after the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Dalí’s initial plan to have his body frozen after death was replaced by a deep fascination with the sciences, in particular the discovery of the structure of DNA, which he believed to be the central component in our understanding of life. The previously unpublished notes by Dalí reproduced here contain anecdotes about author Stefan Zweig, who helped introduce the artist to Sigmund Freud. Additionally reprinted is an article from Scientific American, a magazine regularly read and commented on with handwritten notes by Dalí. In his introduction, Ignacio Vidal-Folch writes about Dalí’s search for immortality, and different views on the topic from scientists and authors such as Ray Kurzweil, Elias Canetti, and Eugène Ionesco.

Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was a Spanish artist.

Ignacio Vidal-Folch (*1956) is a journalist and author living in Barcelona.