Two years after the departure of the doctor Guillermo Soberon Acevedo, The National College will pay tribute to you. The act will be held in person this Monday, April 4, at 6 in the afternoon, and will be dedicated to examining his legacy. It will have the participation of members Luis Felipe Rodríguez Jorge, Julio Frenk, Adolfo Martínez Palomo, José Sarukhán and Diego Valadés, as well as Jaime Sepúlveda and Gloria Soberón Chávez. The tribute will also be accompanied by the unveiling of his portrait, the work of the artist Lucinda Urrusti.
“He is one of the great characters of recent culture, higher education, health and research, for two years we have been so sorry for his departure. That is why we urge that what he did not be forgotten. It is not only the figure of him, but the legacy to Mexicans, “said the doctor Adolfo Martinez Palomo to The Economistin a talk prior to the tribute.
He pointed out that there are many reasons to remember the work of the Dr. Soberonon the one hand, he established over more than 50 years the foundations for higher education and a more solid health system, “this is a task in which progress must be made, especially at this time when, both the health system, like scientific research, is in a very serious problem”.
Remembering Dr. Soberón, he said, is particularly important these days, “it is not only remembering a great character in his different key positions, as rector (of the UNAM) or Secretary of Health. Since he started in the biochemistry lab, when he came back from United States, since then it has tried to promote quality research, with freedom, both for individuals and institutions, and of transcendence, together with the training of young researchers”. He added that this is a task that has not been completed, “but unfortunately the first two, quality and freedom, are now in danger.”
Continuing to talk about his legacy, Martínez Palomo assures that he always acted like a scientist, “from the beginning of his career, until the last thing he did”, because he always had the essential elements of science, freedom and truth in his hands. . As a doctor he was also an excellent internist at the nutrition hospital that later became the Institute and later as a researcher, just at the Health Secretary he did twelve volumes on how to improve health in our country.
He also understood the need to form associations, which is why he participated in the creation of various collective spaces, such as the Mexican Foundation for Health, “which has greatly helped the pandemic, established together with 100 large businessmen”; after the Science Advisory Council, “that since the last administration it was finished and now it is buried, but it was very important as an idea and should be taken up again in the future, so that the presidency has scientific and technological advice”; He too National Council of Bioethics“which is having an important impact in establishing the principles of the area in all health care sites.”
The above are examples of how Dr. Soberón insisted on the need for the association. “Something that was peculiar about him is that every time he proposed something, he met with exceptional and competent people; that has been in part one of the secrets of his great success, surrounding himself with intelligent people”.
Martínez Palomo concludes that the way in which people can learn about his legacy is that those who had the fortune to know him and his work talk about him, “commenting on what he pursued, his idea of a more cultured, better educated and with better health. This is something that will spend many decades and will be a current issue, it will always be necessary to talk about these elements.
Finally, he assures that he was a well-liked character with a good humor, even in complicated situations, among many of his qualities, which is why he is proud to be part of this talk. “When Dr. Carpizo proposed me for the UNAM Governing Boardthey introduced me to the University Council and an issue arose with me, they said ‘that doctor has a problem, he is pro-independence’, since then I have been very fond of being called that, I accept that title because I will always defend the principles for which he worked Sovereign”.
Who was?
Guillermo Soberon Acevedo was born in Iguala, Warrior, in 1925, and from a very young age he became interested in health sciences. He completed his professional studies at the National School of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he obtained the title of Surgeon in 1949, with honorable mention, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the specialty of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, United States, in 1956.
He was rector of UNAM for two terms (1973-1981) and Secretary of Health and Assistance (1982-1986), and Secretary of Health (1986-1988).
Income to The National College on November 5, 1981. He died on October 12, 2020, in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos.
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