Federico Mayor Zaragoza, former minister and head of UNESCO, dies aged 90

The former Minister of Education and Director-General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, died on Thursday at the age of 90.

Born in Barcelona in 1934, Zaragoza was a doctor in Pharmacy and professor of Biochemistry at the University of Granada, where he eventually became dean of the institution.

From a very early age he was engaged in politics, and was Minister of Education and Science between 1981-1982 and held office as an MEP in 1987.

Also in 1987, he became Deputy Director-General of UNESCO and later took on full management of the organization, focussing on promoting projects to for peace, human rights, and dialogue between cultures.

In 1999, he created the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, with which he continued to develop the objectives he set for himself at the head of the institution. 

His commitment to science led him to become president of the Scientific Council of the Ramón Areces Foundation in 1993. There, he promoted scientific knowledge as a key tool for society.

Spanish foreign affairs minister José Manuel Albares described Mayor Zaragoza as "a universal Spaniard" who projected the country into the world.

"May his legacy for peace, culture and understanding endure and guide us," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.