Prince of Asturias Awards 1981–2014. Speeches

P rince of A sturias A wards 1981-2014. S peeches 9 This year the Award for Scientific and Technical Research has been bestowed on Spanish physicist Juan Ignacio Cirac Sasturáin, thereby acknowledging the extraordinary work of an outstanding young lecturer and expert in quantumcomputing who presently heads the Department of Quantum Optics at Germany’s Max Planck Institute. We are particularly impressed by the fact that his nomination was seconded by five Nobel Prize Laureates in Physics, amongst other eminent scientists, all of whom have proclaimed their admiration for the work he does, for the international prestige that he has achieved with his cutting-edge research, and for his position as a leading light in the revolutionary field of quantum information, a new science for the twenty-first century. His studies on large-scale quantum processors have had far-reaching repercussions and have led many laboratories to start experiments in this innovative scientific field. He has himself said that “the quantum computer will revolutionise the field of information technology” by providing greater efficiency and security in transferring and handling data. Cirac is also researching other state-of-the-art fields that will help to improve man’s quality of life. His lead motivates and inspires anyone who loves science, and is also a powerful spur for our country’s researchers, who we take this opportunity to encourage to persevere in their work. His outstanding work, his youth and the depth of his knowledge invite belief in a brighter future for sciences and research in Spain, a future in which science will be increasingly appreciated and fostered by society as one of the key determiners of economic and social progress. This year’s Award for Literature has been bestowed upon American novelist Paul Auster, whose work —which has not shied away from poetry, newspaper articles or cinema— is one of the most perceptive and profound analyses of what the author sees as existential absurdity and the limitations of modern man. Paul Auster is a key figure in the renovation of contemporary literature. Blessed with an extraordinary imagination, he has used his work to build a unique universe in which fate, a basic component of the mystery, shepherds the reader towards a world of surprises, coincidences, unexpected and almost invariably extraordinary reactions that nevertheless make his characters more human by transforming them into real people with emotions. The basic hallmark of his work is his approach to eternal and universal questions, such as solitude, the eventuality of man and death, handled with a discourse of absolute freedom. With consummate ease and intelligence, Auster —for whom writing is always a great adventure— has managed to communicate his obsessions, concerns and desires by recounting stories steeped in mystery and even implausibility. Paul Auster frequently sets his narrative in the city of New York, a universal metaphor of our present plight and the milieu for terribly fragile lives; a fragility that Auster feels morally obliged to constantly remind us of. Such lives arouse the compassion of the reader, who identifies with them and is inexorably shepherded into the pleasure of reading. The Award for Social Sciences goes to an Irish woman, Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, university lecturer in Law, driving force behind the International Penal Tribunal, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and now President of the Ethical Globalisation Initiative. She represents an ancient and beautiful land, Ireland, with which Spain maintains a strong cultural bond and a centuries-long close friendship. Its origins hark back to times immemorial, if an ancient legend is to be believed. Her work is distinguished by a particularly meaningful feature: her unflagging commitment to cultural values and the tenacious endeavour to extend human rights in the world. Another common thread running through all her work is justice, fraternity and generosity as key drivers of parity in international relations. Mary Robinson also epitomises the many men and women who have successfully blended modernity and values burnished by the centuries to help make our world a more open-minded, humane place.