Characterized by his modesty, Joan Cadevall who “did not aspire that his name could one day appear next to those of Costa, Trèmols, Vayreda…, all worthy scientists; would have been satisfied that it appeared after them, at a respectful distance…”, as explained by Pius Font i Quer on the long obituary he dedicated to him, became one of the leading scientists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Catalonia.