Miguel Catalán (9.10.1894-11.02.1957) was a Spanish experimental physicist and a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences (1955). He was born in Zaragoza. He graduated from the University of Madrid (1917). In 1930 —33 he was professor at the National Institute of Physics in Madrid, in 1934—57 at the University of Madrid, and at the same time in 1949 —57 head of a department at the Institute of Optics in Madrid.
His research concerned spectroscopy. He carried out extensive studies of the atomic spectra of various elements. From his study of the spectra of manganese and chromium he was the first to conclude that the spectra of complex atoms have a multiplet structure, and he introduced (1922) the concept of a spectral multiplet. He drew up tables for calculating spectral series in atomic spectra.