The President of the Republic addressed a message of condolences to the Family of Professor José Mariano Gago.

Following is the text of the message from President Cavaco Silva:

“Upon being advised of the passing away of Professor José Mariano Gago, I address my deepest condolences to the bereaved Family.

A brilliant student in the Engineering Faculty of Lisbon University, with a PhD awarded by the Sorbonne, José Mariano Gago was early noted as one of the foremost scientists of his generation.

Along with his career as a brilliant researcher, José Mariano Gago stood out as one of the prime figures in political science in the Portuguese democracy. He exercised the leadership of the more relevant institutions promoters of scientific and technological activities, and was later appointed as Minister of Science and Technology in the XIII and XIV Constitutional Governments and Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education in the XVII and XVIII Constitutional Governments.

Largely due to his dynamism, Portuguese Science registered a notable impetus in the latter decades, achieving a unique level of internationalization whilst also greatly disseminated in Portugal.

In addition to being a scientific and cultural individuality, José Mariano Gago was, since his early days, an exemplary citizen, due to his drive in the uncompromising defence of the values of freedom and democracy.

With his death, Portugal loses one of the foremost individualities in its cultural and scientific environment, who was much owed by several generations of researchers in the most diverse branches of knowledge and cognition.

Aníbal Cavaco Silva”