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Eduard Punset i Casals (; 9 November 1936 – 22 May 2019) was a Spanish politician,
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, economist, and science popularizer. He held a degree in Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Master's in Economic Sciences from the University of London. He was an economic writer for the BBC, economics director of the Latin American edition of the newsweekly '' The Economist'', and an economist for the International Monetary Fund in the United States and
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
. As a specialist on the impact of emerging technologies, Punset was a consultant to COTEC, Advising Professor of International Marketing at ESADE, president of the Instituto Tecnológico Bull, Professor of Innovation and Technology at the IE Business School (formerly Instituto de Empresa) in Madrid, President of ENHER, Deputy General Director of Economic and Financial Studies at the
Banco Hispanoamericano Banco Central Hispano was a Spanish bank. In 1999 it was merged with Banco Santander to form Banco Santander Central Hispano. However the bank group was reverted to refer as Santander Group or Banco Santander in 2007. See also * Former Banco Cen ...
, and Coordinator of the Strategic Plan for the Information Society of the Government of Catalonia.


Political career

Punset started his political career in the Regional Government of Catalonia as Minister of Finance from 1978 to 1980, taking part in the implementation of the State of the Autonomies in Spain. He was a member of Adolfo Suárez's Union of the Democratic Centre, with which party he won a seat in the regional parliament in 1980 and in 1980-81 was appointed Minister for Relations with the
European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and the ...
in the Government of Spain from 1980 to 1981. He was elected to the
Spanish Congress The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...
in 1982 as an independent in the list of Convergence and Union (Catalan nationalist coalition) for
Barcelona province Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .European Union, Punset was elected to the European Parliament as a member of Adolfo Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) in 1987 and 1989. Punset quit CDS in 1991, following Suárez's resignment, but remained an EP member until 1994. As president of the European Parliament's delegation to Poland, he supervised part of the process of economic transformation undertaken in Eastern countries after the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
.


Author and professor

Punset was author of several books on economic analysis and social thought. He was also Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the Faculty of Economics of the Chemical Institute of Sarrià ( Ramon Llull University). Since 1996, he directed and presented ''Redes'' inked page in Spanish a science programme based around interviews with leading scientists, aired on the
TVE TVE may stand for: Television * Televisión Española, a Spanish state-owned public-service television broadcaster ** TVE HD, a high-definition channel run by Televisión Española * Televisão Educativa, a defunct Brazilian TV network * TV Eduk ...
. He was also the president of the audiovisual production compan
smartplanet
inked page in Spanishand board member of
Sol Meliá Sol or SOL may refer to: Astronomy * The Sun Currency * SOL Project, a currency project in France * French sol, or sou * Argentine sol * Bolivian sol, the currency of Bolivia from 1827 to 1864 * Peruvian sol, introduced in 1991 * Peruvian sol ( ...
Hotels & Resorts.


Personal

Punset was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2007, from which he recovered. Punset died on 22 May 2019 after succumbing to a lengthy illness aged 82. He was the father of politician
Carolina Punset Carolina Punset Bannel (born 5 January 1971) is a Spanish politician, lawyer and forensic handwriting expert. She served as a Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to ...
, writer and science popularizer and Nadia.


Awards

* "Honor Plaque" awarded by the Asociación Española de Científicos (Spanish Association of Scientists) (2001). * Airtel Prize for Journalism awarded by the Fundación Vodafone (2002). * "José Manuel Porquet" Prize for Digital Journalism (2006). * "Galardón de la Psicología" awarded by the Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de la Región de Murcia (Official College of Psychologists, Murcia) (2007). * "Rei Jaume I" Prize for Journalism awarded by the Government of Valencia (2007). * Science and Technology Prize awarded by AEEPP, Asociación Española de Editoriales de Publicaciones Periódicas (Spanish Association of Publishers of Periodicals) (2008). * Manel Xifra i Boada Prize awarded by the Col·legi d'Enginyers Tècnics Industrials de Girona (Official College of Industrial Engineers, Girona) (2008). * "Asociación Profesional Española de Informadores de prensa, radio y televisión: APEI-Catalunya" (Spanish Association of Press, Television and Radio Reporters, Catalonia) Prize (2008). * "Hombre CQ del Año" Prize for the Best Writer (2008). * "Mención de honor" (Honorary Mention) by the Sociedad Española de Neurología (Spanish Neurology Society) (2008). * "Premios Zapping: Premio Humano" awarded by TVE (2009). *"10 Most Influential Ibero American Intellectuals" of the year – Foreign Policy magazine (2012).


Selected works

* ''El viaje a la felicidad: Las nuevas claves científicas'' (''The Journey to Happiness: New Scientific Clues'', 2005; English translation to be published in the United States in 2007 as ''The Happiness Trip: A Scientific Journey'') * ''Cara a cara con la vida, la mente y el universo'' (''Face to Face with Life, Mind, and the Universe'', 2004; English translation to be published in the United States in 2007 as ''Mind, Life and Universe: Conversations with Great Scientists of Our Time'') * ''Adaptarse a la marea. La selección natural en los negocios'' (''Adapting to the Tide: Natural Selection in Business'', 2004) * ''Manual para sobrevivir en el siglo XXI'' (''A 20th Century Survival Manual'', 2000) * ''Information Resources and Corporate Growth'' (coauthor, 1989) * ''La España impertinente'' (''Impertinent Spain'', 1986) * ''España: sociedad cerrada, sociedad abierta'' (''Spain: Closed Society, Open Society'', 1982) * ''La salida de la crisis'' (''The Way Out of the Crisis'', 1980)


References


External links


RTVE official Web page for ''Redes''

Eduardo Punset's blog
*
Skeptical commentary on Redes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punset, Eduardo 1936 births 2019 deaths Economists from Catalonia Alumni of the University of London Complutense University of Madrid alumni Convergence and Union politicians Democratic and Social Centre (Spain) MEPs Economy ministers of Catalonia ESADE faculty Finance ministers of Catalonia Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain) MEPs for Spain 1987–1989 MEPs for Spain 1989–1994 Politicians from Barcelona Spanish television presenters