Paloma O’Shea

AWARD LAUREATES | Paloma O’Shea


Paloma O’Shea

Creator of Albeniz Musical Foundation and Reina Sofía Musical School

Paloma O’Shea is the Founder of the Reina Sofía Musical School and the Creator and President of the Albeniz Foundation. Born in Spain in 1936, she began studying piano in 1941 before moving to France in order to further her interest in music. At the age of fifteen her musical talent was recognised and she was awarded the Primer Premio Fin de Carrera and the chance to perform with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra. After marrying Emilio Botín, Executive Chairman of Grupo Santander, she chose to dedicate her time to promoting classical music in Spain and as a result she became a patron of the arts. In 1972 she founded the Albeniz Foundation and created the Concurso de Piano de Santander, which is now known as The Paloma O’Shea International Piano Competition. It is held every three years in Spain and is organised by the Albeniz Foundation. In 1991, she founded the Queen Sofía College of Music, which is a private music school that has grown to become one of the leading music schools in Spain. Her commitment to the promotion of arts and music in Spain and her initiatives to encourage musical talent have led to Ms O’Shea receiving numerous awards including The Gold Mercury International Award, as well as the Légion d’honneur of France, the Picasso Awards of UNESCO and in 2008 she was given the rank of Marchioness of O’Shea by the King of Spain.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminPaloma O’Shea
read more

Luis Garcia Berlanga

AWARD LAUREATES | Luis Garcia Berlanga


Luis Garcia Berlanga

Film Director and Academy Award Nominee

Luis Garcia Berlanga was a Spanish film director and writer who played a prominent role in the revival of the Spanish film industry. His interest in film was fostered during his legal and literature studies in Madrid. His interest in the subject matter eventually led to him joining the state run film school, The Institute of Cinematographic Investigations and Experiences in 1947. He introduced his work as a director with the 1951 film, ‘That Happy Couple’ before establishing himself with the 1953 comedy, ‘Bienvenido, Mister Marshall’. This film used irony and satire to parody Franco’s regime and the utopia they had seemingly created. The film somehow escaped strict censorship laws but lost out at the Cannes Film Festival for being “anti- American”. In 1961 he directed the Oscar nominated film, ‘Pacido’, and later he achieved more critical success with the film, ‘El Verudi’, which won the Critics’ Choice Award at the Venice Film Festival in 1963. In 1968 he became the head of the judging panel at the Berlin International Film Festival and by the late 1970′s he had re-established himself in the genre of erotic fiction. In 1986 he became the first director to win the Prince of Asturias Award.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminLuis Garcia Berlanga
read more

Juan Luis Cebrián

AWARD LAUREATES | Juan Luis Cebrián


Juan Luis Cebrián

Journalist, Writer and Academic

Juan Luis Cebrián was presented with the Gold Mercury Award in 1986 for his contribution to Global Culture. Born in Madrid in 1944, Mr Cebrián studied Humanities at the University Complutense, before graduating from the Official School of Journalism in Spain in 1963. He was a founding member of the political magazine, ‘Cuadernos para el Dialogo’ in 1963 and served as Deputy Editor of the ‘Pueblo Daily Newspaper’ from 1963 to 1975. In 1973, Mr Cebrián also became the Head of Information Services of the Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española RTVE, during the last government of the Franco dictatorship. He was the founding Editor of ‘El País’, and served as Director of the publication from 1976 to 1988. Under his leadership, the paper became the best-selling newspaper in Spain. Mr Cebrián was also a writer and author, publishing nineteen books in ten different languages over the course of his career. After becoming a Gold Mercury International Award Laureate, he became the CEO of Prisa Group, as well as the Vice President of the Spanish Society of Broadcasting and Prisa TV.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminJuan Luis Cebrián
read more

José Federico Carvajal

AWARD LAUREATES | José Federico Carvajal


José Federico Carvajal

Former President of The Senate of Spain

Born in 1930, José Federico Carvajal served as the President of the Senate of Spain from 1982 to 1989. Shortly after graduating with a Law degree from the Central University in 1956, he became a member of the International Bar Association, defending numerous cases before the Court of Public Order. From 1954 he was a member of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and wishing to become more actively involved in politics, he ultimately ran for and was elected as Senator for the province of Ávila in 1977. His successful time as Senator of Ávila led to him eventually being elected Senator of Madrid in 1982 and later that year, President of the Senate of Spain. He held this position for two terms before once again being elected as a senator in the 1986 elections. In 1989 during the general election he was appointed Deputy to the Congress by the province of Madrid where he became a member of the Constitutional Commission.

adminJosé Federico Carvajal
read more

Camilo José Cela

AWARD LAUREATES | Camilo José Cela


Camilo José Cela

Nobel Prize Winner for Literature

Camilo José Cela, 1st Marquis of Iria Flavia, was recongised with the Gold Mercury International Award for Culture & Media in 1986 for his significant literary contributions. He was born in 1916 in Spain and attended The University of Madrid, during which he spent a period of time in Franco’s army during the Spanish Civil War. He published his first novel, ‘La Familia de Pascual Duarte’ in 1942. This novel would later become one of his most well-known written works and its popularity was so great that post-war pieces of literature reflected Cela’s style and flair. The reason for its popularity was due Cela’s distinctive narrative style, known as tremendismo, which emphasised violence and graphic imagery through lengthy descriptive passages. Influenced by his travels through rural Spain and Latin America. Cela also published two travel books; ‘Viaje a la Alcarría’ and ‘Del Miño al Bidasoa.’ His second novel ‘La Colmena’, telling the story of post-war Madrid and featuring over 300 characters, achieved critical acclaim. Much of his work during this time, due to strict censorship laws in Franco’s Spain, was published in Latin America first. During this period his style continued to change and adapt as shown by ‘San Camilo, 1936’, which, when published in 1969, drew significant attention from critics who recognised a more avant garde and experimental novel than Cela’s past works. He soon founded the literary review agency Papeles de Son Armadans in 1956 and then in 1969 began to publish ‘Diccionario Secreto’; a dictionary of previously unprintable slang and taboo words and phrases. He was honoured several times in his career, including being appointed Royal Senator in the Constituent Cortes, a role which enabled him to influence the wording of the 1978 Spanish Constitution. Following his induction as a Gold Mercury Award recipient, he also won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Literature and was given the title First Marquis of Iria Flavia in 1996 by King Juan Carlos I.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminCamilo José Cela
read more

Antonio Saura

AWARD LAUREATES | Antonio Saura


Antonio Saura

Spanish Artist and Writer

Antonio Saura was presented with the Gold Mercury Award for Culture and Media in 1986 for his work as an artist and writer. His distinctive artistic style and written creations have influenced generations around the world. He was born in Huesca, Spain in 1930 and after contracting tuberculosis in 1943, he experienced five years of immobility. It was during this time that he began to start painting and writing from the confines of his bed. His initial work had surrealist overtones, often featuring imaginary landscapes. Mr Saura held his first personal exhibition in 1950, the general theme of which was, ‘Constellations and Rayograms’. From 1954 to 1955 he lived in Paris and as his style matured and became more consistent and recognised he was associated with the surrealist school of art. In 1956 he exhibited his ‘Women and Self-portraits’ series at the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. It was during this period that he discovered and exhibited the subjects that he would later become famous; works which featured women, nude portraits, self-portraits, shrouds, priests and scenes from the crucifixion. In 1957 Mr Saura founded the El Paso Group, which he led as Director until its dissolution in 1960. In 1960 he received the Guggenheim Award and the following year he held his first exhibition at the Pierre Matisse Gallery. In 1967 he moved permanently to Paris and became involved in politics, expressing his opposition to the Franco dictatorship and participating in numerous controversial debates. He continued to reinvent himself artistically and in 1968 he abandoned oil painting and instead devoted himself to working mainly with paper. In 1977 Mr Saura started to publish his writings, but continued to showcase his artistic works at various exhibitions and also create stage designs for the ballet and theatre.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminAntonio Saura
read more

Antonio Mingote

AWARD LAUREATES | Antonio Mingote


Antonio Mingote

Spanish Cartoonist, Writer and Journalist

Antonio Mingote was recognised by Gold Mercury International in 1986 for his contribution to Global Culture. Mr Mingote was born in 1919 and spent his childhood in Daroca, Catalayud, Teruel and Zaragoza. He studied Philosophy and Arts at the University of Zaragoza but, wishing to live in Madrid, left the university in 1944. In 1946 he began working at the highly influential weekly graphic humour magazine La Codorniz. In 1953 he began to draw a daily cartoon in the ABC newspaper. These cartoons were famed for their distinctive irony and humour. He continued to draw a daily cartoon in ABC until his death in 2012. In addition to his cartoons Mr Mingote was also an acclaimed author of several novels, an actor and a script writer who worked on several films and stage productions.

LAUREATE PHOTOS


adminAntonio Mingote
read more