The Prince of Asturias Foundation
David Vázquez Martínez
The teacher of various generations of Spanish scientists and an outstanding researcher in the fields of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Microbiology, David Vázquez was born on 24th March 1930 in Tucumán (Argentina) to Asturian parents.
After studying at university in Spain and England, he graduated from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Madrid in 1954 with a first-class cum laude degree. In 1959, he earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Madrid and in 1965 from Cambridge (England), Microbiology being the main subject of his studies.
He carried out his first post-doctorate research work at the National Institute of Agronomy in Paris, at the National Institute for Dairy Product Research in Reading (UK) and at the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory at Cambridge (UK). He joined the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - CSIC) in 1963, beginning his work at the Institute of Cell Biology.
His work there focussed on the mechanisms of the biological synthesis of proteins and on the action of antibiotics. Regarding the latter, he carried out important research which clarified the mechanisms of the actions of various antibiotics, especially those which paralyse the protein assembly mechanisms of pathogenic organisms without affecting the host cells. Standing out as Spain’s main researcher into antibiotics, David Vázquez carried out practically all his scientific work in connection with the Spanish National Council for Research (CSIC). In 1967, he was appointed as a scientific researcher, and in 1971, as a Research Lecturer of the CSIC, the highest grade which exists in this body. From 1968 on, he took charge of running the Council’s Institutes of Cell Biology and Macromolecular Biochemistry, as well as participating on the Board of the Institute of Molecular Biology. A full member of the CSIC board between 1975 and 1977, he was subsequently the founder-chairman of the Santiago Ramón y Cajal Trust, president of the Spanish Society of Microbiology, lecturer and director of the Microbiology Department of the Autonomous University of Madrid’s Science Faculty and president, from 1984 until his death, of the Spanish Society of Biochemistry, as well as a full member of the Royal Academy of Natural, Physical and Exact Sciences.
He was a member of the Juan March Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee, a position from which he played a key role in fostering the activities of the Foundation in support of Spanish science. David Vázquez’s prestige within the sphere of his scientific activity was universal in scope, speaking at each and every conference on the biosynthesis of proteins or the mechanism of action of antibiotics held anywhere in the world. He himself organised international symposia in Spain. His work in these meetings resulted in some hundred talks, including those given at the annual congresses of the European Federation of Societies of Biochemistry and World Biochemistry Congresses. He was likewise the author of more than 260 research papers published in major Spanish and international journals.
He died in Madrid on 15th February 1986. The Spanish National Council for Research (CSIC), the Asturian School of Hispanic Studies and the “San Pedro” Festival and Cultural Society of La Felguera, among other bodies and associations, paid posthumous tribute to him. A monument was raised in his memory in the Plaza Sesta in La Felguera, the Asturian town where his family originally came from.
Emilio Rosenblueth
Emilio Rosenblueth (Mexico City, 1926-1994) studied Civil Engineering at the National Engineering School of Mexico and followed post-graduate studies at the University of Illinois.
He dedicated over thirty years to researching seismic phenomena, in particular the study of the behaviour of buildings when faced with earthquakes. As a seismic engineer, his studies have allowed the construction of buildings of great height, dams and nuclear power plants in regions of the planet where there is a risk of earthquakes. His application of probability calculus and other contributions have been used as the basis for the drafting of guidance regulations for the construction of buildings, the parameters for which vary depending on the future use of the building, the type of terrain upon which it stands and its seismicity. His teaching and research work was mainly carried out at the Institute of Civil Engineering of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was also Vice-Minister for Education of his country, advisor to UNESCO and to the Organization of American States (OAS) in seismic and scientific research matters, and took part as a guest lecturer and advisor in scientific programmes in Canada, Great Britain, China, the United States and other Latin-American, Asian and Mediterranean-European countries. He held chairs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the California Institute of Technology, the Universities of Washington, Stanford, California and Waterloo (Canada) and the National Engineering University (Peru).
He was president of the Academy of Scientific Research (1963-1965), member of the Board of Governors of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1972- 1981), president of the Javier Barros Sierra Foundation (1975-1977) and honorary member of organisations such as the American Concrete Institute (from 1976) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (from 1981). He was unanimously elected as a member of the National College (1972) and received honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo (1983), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (1985) and Carnegie Mellon University (1989). Noteworthy among the prizes he was awarded are the Luis Elizondo Prize (1973) and the National Science Award (1974). In 1985, he was distinguished with the title of National Researcher, the maximum distinction bestowed on a scientist in his country.
