Ramón Lapiedra was one of those people who commands respect for his knowledge, his silences, and his kind but reserved attitude. He was a wise man, an expert in the theory of relativity and astrophysics who did not hesitate to come down to earth to engage with his culture and his language. He passed away early this morning at the age of 86 in the hospital of Vinaròs, near the house in Alcocebre that he shared with his lifelong partner, the painter Carme Vidal, in the countryside of Cap i Corp, facing the sea.
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A Professor of Theoretical Physics, Lapiedra was the rector of the University of Valencia between 1984 and 1994, during which he consolidated the institution in democracy and freedoms with his reforms. He was also a key figure in the historic agreement within the Valencian Council of Culture that led to the creation of the Valencian Academy of the Language. He, who had been the target of the fiercest criticisms from the most reactionary and ignorant Valencia, who labeled him a Catalanist for following university dictates or simply rejected him for being a left-wing intellectual, managed to bring together different sensibilities in search of the pacification of the linguistic conflict and the social use of Valencian.
Born in Almenara and residing in Valencia, his childhood was spent in neighboring Sagunto, his family’s city, and his youth in the various universities and cities where he studied thanks to the scholarships he received for his remarkable ability. He earned a degree in Physics from the University of Madrid (1963), a doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the Universities of Paris (1969) and Barcelona (1974), was a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, a professor at the University of Valencia (1982-2010), and conducted research in the fields of general relativity, predictive relativistic mechanics, relativistic astrophysics, cosmology, and the foundations of quantum mechanics. He published numerous scientific articles and several books. At the same time, he developed a notable civic career in Valencia.
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“He was a splendid person in every sense; a scholar since he was a child, since we met in Sagunto, when we were both seven years old and became friends. He was thoughtful, generous, with a very strong intellectual background,” says Emèrit Bono, retired professor of Applied Economics, former counselor of the Generalitat during the presidency of the socialist Joan Lerma, and former vice-rector of the University with Lapiedra.
Lapiedra lived in Paris during May 1968 and his civic activism led him to be tried by the Public Order Tribunal (TOP), which sentenced him to nine months in prison, served in Barcelona and Jaén (1970). At the end of the last century, he was one of the founders of the Valencianist and progressive platform Valencians pel Canvi and a member of the commission, chaired by Josep Maria Bricall, that drafted the University Report 2000 commissioned by the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities. He received multiple distinctions and tributes: the honor medal of the Vives Network of Universities and being named an adopted son of the city of Sagunto were among the last. The civil funeral will take place at the Benicarló Funeral Home on Wednesday at 12 o’clock. The University of Valencia has decreed three days of official mourning.
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