Federico Mayor Zaragoza

Federico Mayor Zaragoza (b. 1934 in Barcelona) is a Spanish scholar and politician. He served as Director-General of UNESCO from 1987 to 1999.

Mayor obtained a doctorate in pharmacy from the Complutense University of Madrid in 1958. In 1963 he became professor of biochemistry at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Granada, and in 1968 was elected rector of that university, a post he held until 1972. The following year he was appointed professor in biochemistry at the Community of Madrid. In 1974 he co-founded the Severo Ochoa Centre of Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid and of the High Council for Scientific Research.

Political posts

Mayor's political postings have included:undersecretary of Education and Science in the Spanish Government (1974–1975) in the last government of the Franco era, deputy in the Spanish Parliament (1977–1978), advisor to the President of the Government (1977–1978), Minister of Education and Science (1981–1982) and deputy in the European Parliament (1987). In 1978 he became Deputy Director-General of UNESCO. In 1987 was elected Director-General of UNESCO, and he was re-elected for a second mandate in 1993. After deciding not to run for a third term, in 1999 he returned to Spain to create the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, [http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org] serving as its President. In December 2002 he was appointed to chair the European Research Council Expert Group (ERCEG). In 2005 he is designed Co-President for the High Level Group for the Alliance of Civilizations, by the United Nations Secretary-General.He is member of the Honorary Board of the International Coalition for the Decade for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence as well as the Honorary Chairman of the Académie de la Paix [http://www.peace-academy.ch]

UNESCO

During his 12 years as head of UNESCO (1987–1999) Mayor gave new life to the organization's mission to "build a bastion of peace in the minds of all people", putting the institution at the service of peace, tolerance, human rights and peaceful coexistence, working within the scope of its powers and remaining faithful to its original goals. Under Mayor's guidance, UNESCO created the Culture of Peace Programme, whose objectives revolve around four main themes: education for peace; human rights and democracy; the fight against isolation and poverty; the defence of cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue; and conflict prevention and the consolidation of peace.

Within the framework of this strategy, numerous international meetings and conferences were held on subjects such as education in non-violence, the eradication of discrimination and the promotion of pluralism and international cooperation. The result of these meetings was some 30 Declarations expressing a will to promote education, science, culture, research and teaching, justice and the “moral and intellectual solidarity” to which the constitution of UNESCO refers.

On 10 November 1998, the UN General Assembly declared the years 2001-2010, International Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World and, on 13 September 1999, it adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, which embodies Mayor’s greatest aspirations from both a conceptual and practical standpoint.

Through the Foundation for a Culture of Peace, [http://www.fund-culturadepaz.org] created in Madrid in March 2000, under the patronage of the Department of Education of the Community of Madrid, Mayor continues the task he began as director-general of UNESCO: that of promoting the transition from a culture of violence and force, to a culture of peace and tolerance. Each year the Foundation offers an annual Culture of Peace course in collaboration with the Juan Carlos I University of Madrid, with educational content including democracy, human rights, and the origin of conflicts. In December 2000, the Foundation organised an international conference attended by major figures in the struggle for justice, freedom, and peace. At the end of the conference, the Declaration of Madrid was adopted unanimously.

Publications

In addition to numerous scientific publications, Mayor has published four books of poetry – "A contraviento" (1985), "Aguafuertes" (1991), "El fuego y la esperanza" (1996) and "Terral" (1997) – and various collections of essays, including: "Un mundo nuevo" (in English, "The World Ahead: Our Future in the Making") (1999), "Los nudos gordianos" (1999), "Mañana siempre es tarde" (1987), "La nueva página" (1994), "Memoria del futuro" (1994), "La paix demain?" (1995), "Science and Power" (1995) and "UNESCO: Un idéal en action" (1996).