Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

8 O viedo | C ampoamor T heatre | show us the point at which Catalan culture merges with the Mediterranean spirit and the Spanish way of being. The travels back and forth of these three authors, studied by Batllori, along the shores and the islands of the sea we share in common, their zeal for untameable science, for mystical spirituality, for sharpness, discretion and talent, may be excellent coordinates with which to justly evaluate the historiographic and literary work of the author who now rounds off his roster of accolades with the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences. Professor Joaquím Veríssimo Serrão is a grand, multi-faceted historian. He is a scholar of the Middle Ages and a rigorous researcher into modern times. He has done great work in clarifying the history of Portugal and its overseas influence, which for many years has earned him the post of directing the destiny of the Portuguese Academy of History. Apart from the long list of his own works, he has guided and welcomed the best national and foreign historians who had something to say regarding Portugal. Yet Professor Veríssimo also directed his gaze especially towards Spain. Nobody has done as much as he has to bring Spanish and Portuguese historians closer. As Chairman of the Portuguese National Academy of History, he has thrown all his prestige behind the deepening of relations between it and our own Royal Academy of History. Just like our own Miguel de Unamuno, Veríssimo Serrão thinks that “it is a work of love and of culture to make Portugal and Spain know each other. Because to know each other is to love one another.” Philosophers, as has so often been said, and rightly so, produce thought, the most subtle and necessary form of energy that exists. And, among us, the undoubtable figure of reference for various generations of Spaniards is that of the philosopher and teacher of ethics, José Luis López Aranguren, Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities. In the life and work of Professor Aranguren, his intellectual contribution shines, just as his highly personal talent stands out. That talent, that active intelligence, acting on things and situations, has forced him during his long career to occupy the ranks normally reserved for youth. His intellectual talent and the way he infuses it with life constitute a highly personal synthesis of independence and nonconformity. Thanks to his work, energy and lively style, Spanish arts have a necessary spiritual link, a great wealth of contents and an example for all of what constitutes good citizenship. The efe news agency, which has likewise been bestowed with the Prince of Asturias Award for Communications and Humanities, is one of the great international news agencies and the leading agency of Hispanic origin in Spanish thanks to its volume of information, its technological development and the number of its subscribers. For the half century of its existence, efe has seen fulfilled the old longing to see the day-to-day history of the world told in Spanish. To this end, it has its own editorial offices in the major capitals and in each and every country of Europe and America. Its presence on the five continents guarantees its independent news coverage while at the same time constituting an incomparable instrument for the defence of the unity of the Spanish language on both sides of the Atlantic. Onmore than a few occasions, it has successfully competed against the international news giants. Its reporters have gained well-earned prestige for reporting truthfully, objectively, rigorously and ethically and for holding freedom and independence as the supreme values of their mission. They have stood out especially in Latin America for disseminating the moral and material wealth of their peoples and for having been, when circumstances so required, supportive to their struggles for the rule of law and democracy. The Prince of Asturias Award for Sports has been granted to the Algerian Hassiba Boulmerka. Sport has an even higher meaning when its noble exercise is highlighted by the human values of those who practise it. The recognition for this singular female athlete fits very well with the core “I also express, yet again, my gratitude to our Trustees, as well as to the authorities and to the growing number of people who contribute to making these Awards a great work of Spaniards, united before the world.” 27 th O ctober 1995